TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (3) TMI 852
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ended Form-1, within a period of seven days from the date of receipt of the amended Form-1. Learned Counsel for the Appellant while drawing the attention of this Court towards the impugned order as well as the other pleadings, copy of which has been placed on record, submits that by passing the impugned order the Adjudicating Authority has taken away a valuable defence of the Appellant and has permitted the Applicant to amend the date of default and the manner in which the impugned order has been passed would itself show that no opportunity of being heard has been provided to the Appellant to put forth his objections vis-à-vis the intended amendment. It is further submitted that without moving any formal amendment application, the Appellant has been granted liberty to submit an amended Form -1 with a new date of default. It is also submitted that the impugned order is devoid of any reason and therefor is not sustainable and be set aside. Learned Counsel for the Appellant in support of his submissions has relied on the following judgments passed by co-ordinates Benches of this Tribunal: i) Inakshi Sobti & Ors. Vs. Starlight Systems (I) Pvt. Ltd. & Anr. in Co....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....also cannot be judged by the same standards, as a plaint in a suit, or any other pleadings in a Court of law. It was clarified that under the provisions of Section 7 of the Code, NCLT can allow amendments to pleadings anytime before the final order is passed. Relevant paragraphs No. 26, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 91, 93 and 144 of Dena Bank v. C. Shivakumar Reddy and Another (Supra) for convenience are extracted as under: "26. A third issue which arises for adjudication of this Court is, whether there is any bar in law to the amendment of pleadings, in a Petition under Section 7 of the IBC, or to the filing of additional documents, apart from those filed initially, along with the Petition under Section 7 of the IBC in Form-1. 73. Since a Financial Creditor is required to apply under Section 7 of the IBC, in statutory Form 1, the Financial Creditor can only fill in particulars as specified in the various columns of the Form. There is no scope for elaborate pleadings. An application to the Adjudicating Authority (NCLT) under Section 7 of the IBC in the prescribed form, cannot therefore, be compared with the plaint in a suit. Such application cannot be judged by the same st....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....on 7 of the IBC. Section 7(7) casts an obligation on the Adjudicating Authority to communicate an order under clause (a) of sub-section (5) of Section 7 to the financial creditor and the corporate debtor and to communicate an order under clause (b) of sub-section (5) of Section 7 to the financial creditor within seven days of admission or rejection of such application, as the case may be. Sections 8 and 9 of IBC pertain to Insolvency Resolution by an operational creditor and are not attracted in the facts and circumstances of this case. Section 10 pertains to initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process by the Corporate Debtor itself, and is also not attracted in the facts and circumstances of the case. 91. On a careful reading of the provisions of the IBC and in particular the provisions of Section 7(2) to (5) of the IBC read with the 2016 Adjudicating Authority Rules there is no bar to the filing of documents at any time until a final order either admitting or dismissing the application has been passed. 93. Furthermore, the proviso to Section 7(5)(b) of the IBC obliges the Adjudicating Authority to give notice to an applicant, to rectify the defect in i....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... the basis of other evidence furnished by the financial creditor in order to take a decision with regard to admission or dismissal of such application. However, the discretion required to be exercised by the Adjudicating Authority in disposal of any request to amend the application or Form No. 1 must be exercised on sound settled principles. In this regard the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Life Insurance Corporation of India Vs. Sanjeev Builders Private Limited and Ors., MANU/SC/1093/2022, may also be recalled and paragraph 70 of the report, where in the principles for dealing with amendment applications have been summarised, is reproduced as under: "70. Our final conclusions may be summed up thus: (i) Order II Rule 2 Code of Civil Procedure operates as a bar against a subsequent suit if the requisite conditions for application thereof are satisfied and the field of amendment of pleadings falls far beyond its purview. The plea of amendment being barred Under Order II Rule 2 Code of Civil Procedure is, thus, misconceived and hence negatived. (ii) All amendments are to be allowed which are necessary for determining the real question in co....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....s to set up an entirely new case, foreign to the case set up in the plaint, the amendment must be disallowed. Where, however, the amendment sought is only with respect to the relief in the plaint, and is predicated on facts which are already pleaded in the plaint, ordinarily the amendment is required to be allowed. (xi) Where the amendment is sought before commencement of trial, the court is required to be liberal in its approach. The court is required to bear in mind the fact that the opposite party would have a chance to meet the case set up in amendment. As such, where the amendment does not result in irreparable prejudice to the opposite party, or divest the opposite party of an advantage which it had secured as a result of an admission by the party seeking amendment, the amendment is required to be allowed. Equally, where the amendment is necessary for the court to effectively adjudicate on the main issues in controversy between the parties, the amendment should be allowed. (See Vijay Gupta v. Gagninder Kr. Gandhi and Ors., MANU/DE/2236/2022)" Coming to the facts of the present case the Adjudicating Authority by passing the impugned order has only given liberty to ....