NCLT Chandigarh Rejects Omkara ARC Plea Over 1267-Day Belated Claim In Vikas WSP CIRP

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Chandigarh has dismissed a plea filed by Omkara Assets Reconstruction Pvt. Ltd. seeking admission of its claim in the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of Vikas WSP Ltd., holding that a claim filed 1267 days after the prescribed deadline and after approval of the resolution plan cannot be entertained under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

Refusing to condone the delay, the bench of Judicial Member Khetrabasi Biswal and Technical Member Kaushalendra Kumar Singh said the IBC is meant to ensure time-bound insolvency resolution and cannot be used to revive recovery claims at a late stage of the process.

The bench observed, “It is pertinent to note that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, is a beneficial legislation enacted to ensure the timely resolution of insolvency and the maximisation of the value of assets of the Corporate Debtor, and is not intended to be invoked as a substitute for recovery proceedings or enforcement of time-barred or disputed contractual claims.”

Omkara Assets Reconstruction Pvt. Ltd., through its authorised representative Jeevan Kumar, had challenged the decision of the Resolution Professional dated August 13, 2025 rejecting its claim in the CIRP of Vikas WSP Ltd.

The debt had been assigned to Omkara by the Stressed Asset Stabilisation Fund under an agreement dated August 31, 2024. The tribunal noted that insolvency proceedings against Vikas WSP Ltd. commenced on February 2, 2022, and a public announcement dated February 4, 2022 fixed February 16, 2022 as the last date for submission of claims.

The Committee of Creditors approved the resolution plan on August 25, 2022.

Omkara claimed that Rs. 387.85 crore was recoverable from the company and said it came to know about the ongoing CIRP only during proceedings before the Debt Recovery Tribunal, Jaipur on July 23, 2025, after which it filed its claim on August 6, 2025.

The Resolution Professional opposed the plea, stating that the claim was filed with a delay of 1267 days and after the resolution plan had already been approved by the Committee of Creditors, and that admitting such a claim would unsettle the resolution framework and the commercial decision of the CoC.

Agreeing with this view, the tribunal noted that Regulation 12 of the CIRP Regulations requires creditors to submit claims within the prescribed timeline, extendable only up to 90 days, and that entertaining a claim at such a late stage would defeat the time-bound scheme of the Code.

The bench further observed, “Allowing the present Application would effectively reset the process and jeopardise the finality attached to the commercial decision of the Committee of Creditors. The mandate of the Code for a time-bound resolution would stand defeated if the claims are permitted to be introduced after approval of the Resolution Plan.”

The tribunal also rejected Omkara's reliance on the Supreme Court decision in Rainbow Papers, holding that the judgment related to the status of secured creditors in liquidation and did not apply to belated claims filed during CIRP.

The plea was dismissed by order dated March 10, 2026.