2026 (5) TMI 809

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....nstitution of an appeal under Section 61 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 ['the Code'], is in issue. 2. Company Appeal (AT)(CH)(Ins) No. 252 of 2025 was e-filed on 28.09.2024 by M Lalitha, respondent No. 1 herein, before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, Chennai (NCLAT). Therein, she challenged the order dated 14.08.2024 passed by the National Company Law Tribunal, Kochi Bench (NCLT), in IA (IBC)/216/KOB/2023 in CP(IB)/05/KOB/2021. By the said order, the NCLT had approved the resolution plan submitted by Angelwoods Apartment Allottees Association, the appellant. Respondent No. 1, the mother of a suspended director of the corporate debtor, viz., Samson and Sons Builders and Developers Pvt. Ltd., also claimed to be it....

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.... called for the relevant record from the Registry of the NCLAT. Pursuant thereto, Scrutiny Report dated 27.05.2025 pertaining to the subject appeal was forwarded by the NCLAT. Therein, the Registry noted that the period of limitation for filing the appeal, being 30 days, expired on 13.09.2024 and the condonable delay thereafter, being 15 days, was till 28.09.2024. The appeal was e-filed by respondent No. 1 on the very last day, that is, 28.09.2024. The defects in the appeal were intimated by the Registry on 04.10.2024. The appeal was refiled only on 10.03.2025, though the time stipulated under Rule 26(2) of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal Rules, 2016 ['NCLAT Rules'], for curing of defects is only 07 days. However, the Registry o....

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....a certified copy of the order dated 14.08.2024 passed by the NCLT. 7. Rule 22 of the NCLAT Rules pertains to presentation of appeals. Rule 22(2) categorically states that every appeal shall be accompanied by a certified copy of the impugned order. In this regard, the 3-Judge Bench decision of this Court in V. Nagarajan vs. SKS Ispat and Power Limited and others (2022) 2 SCC 244 assumes significance. Therein, this Court noted that the parties could not automatically dispense with their obligation to apply for and obtain a certified copy for filing an appeal under Rule 22. It was further noted that a person wishing to file an appeal is expected to file an application for the certified copy before the expiry of the limitation period, upon w....

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....ther (2022) 2 SCC 401), we may note that respondent No. 1 chose to e-file an appeal against the order dated 14.08.2024 on the very last day available to her, in terms of the limitation prescribed under the proviso to Section 61(2) of the Code. However, the filing of such appeal, without even applying for a certified copy of the order dated 14.08.2024, practically meant that there was no filing of an appeal in the eyes of law. As pointed out by this Court, a diligent litigant is expected to apply for a certified copy of the order sought to be appealed against before the period of limitation runs out and, by doing so, such litigant would be entitled to seek exclusion of the time taken to procure the certified copy for the purpose of limitatio....