Limitation To File Appeal Under IBC Begins From Date Of Pronouncement In Open Court: NCLAT New Delhi

The Principle Bench of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), at New Delhi on 25 March, held that the limitation period to file an appeal under Section 61(2) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, begins from the date of the pronouncement of the order in open court, not from the date of its uploading on the NCLT portal.

A Bench comprising Justice N. Seshasayee and Technical Member Arun Baroka clarified that uploading constitutes only an administrative act. They held:

“Uploading of an order is an administrative act; pronouncement of a judgement/order is a judicial act. The statute attaches consequence to the latter, and not to the former. To hold that limitation commences only upon uploading would amount to postponing the operation of Section 61(2) until completion of administrative formalities, which the statute does not contemplate. Can limitation then be made to depend on the uncertainties of the administrative process? The answer must necessarily be in the negative.”

Mr. Mukesh Sumermal Sanghvi, proprietor of Silicon Metal Industries, filed the appeal against the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai, after it dismissed his Restoration Application on grounds of limitation.

He had earlier initiated proceedings under Section 9 of the IBC, 2016, against the respondent, which the NCLT admitted, but the parties later executed a settlement agreement and withdrew the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP). The NCLT had granted him liberty to revive proceedings in case of default, as the settlement agreement allowed.

Alleging breach of the settlement and default in payment, he filed the Restoration Petition to revive his proceedings. The NCLT dismissed his petition, noting that he filed it nearly two years after the last installment under the settlement schedule.

The NCLT pronounced the impugned order on 21 April 2025 and uploaded it on 29 April 2025, while the Sanghvi filed his appeal on 10 June 2025. The NCLAT examined whether the appeal fell within the limitation period.

Sanghvi argued that limitation should start from the date of uploading, keeping the appeal within the 45-day period. The respondent countered that Section 61(2) begins from the date of pronouncement in open court, not uploading.

The NCLAT relied on rulings in V. Nagarajan v. SKS Ispat & Power Ltd. (2022) 2 SCC 244 and A. Rajendra v. Gonugunta Madhusudan Rao [2025 INSC 447], which confirmed that limitation begins from pronouncement in open court. It stated:

“To hold otherwise would be to make limitation contingent upon administrative timelines, a position the statute does not countenance. Limitation, in this context, is not merely procedural but jurisdictional, for once the statutory window closes, the Tribunal is not merely restrained, it is rendered powerless.”

It also noted that the order was pronounced in the presence of the counsels of the parties and found no evidence that it was not pronounced in open court.

Accordingly, the NCLAT upheld the decision of the Adjudicating Authority and dismissed the appeal on grounds of limitation.

For Appellant: Advocate Akash Chatterjee, Advocate