NCLT Mumbai Initiates CIRP Against Longrange Commodities, Admits ₹90.54 Crore UCO Bank Petition

On 12 June, the Mumbai Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted Longrange Commodities Pvt Ltd into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process on a petition filed by UCO Bank over a default of Rs. 90.54 crore and appointed Kuldeep Tank as the Interim Resolution Professional.

Judicial Member Nilesh Sharma and Technical Member Sameer Kakar held that a Section 7 petition under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 is maintainable where the financial creditor establishes financial debt, default, and valid acknowledgements extending limitation, and further held that curable procedural defects cannot defeat substantive rights. The Bench observed:

“The objections regarding alleged defects in the petition are also liable to be rejected. Procedural defects which are curable cannot defeat substantive rights where debt and default are otherwise established.”

UCO Bank sanctioned credit facilities aggregating Rs.105 crore on 22 May 2010. The account slipped into a non performing asset on 10 September 2015. The bank issued recall notices on 19 May 2015 and 3 June 2015, followed by a SARFAESI demand notice on 1 October 2015. UCO Bank filed the Section 7 petition in April 2025 claiming dues of Rs.90.54 crore.

On limitation, the Tribunal held that One Time Settlement proposals dated 25 August 2017, 21 December 2017, 3 January 2018, and 23 December 2020 amounted to acknowledgements under Section 18 of the Limitation Act and extended the limitation period accordingly.

On proof of default, the Bench relied on Section 7(3)(a) and held that a financial creditor could produce either an Information Utility record or other prescribed evidence. It accepted UCO Bank's account statements and certificate under the Bankers' Books Evidence Act and held that the absence of a NeSL record did not defeat the petition. It observed:

“On perusal of the section and regulation mentioned above it is our view that the FC, along with the Application, shall furnish the either record of default with the Information Utility or any other evidence, which may be specified. The same is specified in regulation 2A which states that evidence may include certified copy of entries in the relevant account in the bankers' book.”

Accordingly, the NCLT rejected objections regarding procedural defects and held that curable defects could not override substantive rights once debt and default stood established on record.