The Supreme Court in Safire Technologies Pvt. Ltd Vs Regional Provident Fund Commissioner & Anr reiterated that an appeal to NCLAT shall be filed within 30 days and the appellate tribunal can only condone a delay of 15 days.
The facts, in brief, are that The Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of Maruti Koatsu Cylinders Limited was initiated by NCLT Ahmedabad vide its order dated 26.04.2018. The Committee of Creditors approved the resolution plan on 04.04.2019 and the same was approved by NCLT on 22.10.2019.
Regional Provident fund commissioner (RPFC)filed its claim with the resolution professional on 09.10.2019 which was not entertained by the resolution professional and thereafter an appeal was filed by RPFC on 14.12.2020 against the plan approval order dated 22.10.2019 that is after a delay of 388 days.
It is now contended by the applicant that by the virtue of section 61 of the Code, an appeal can be filed only within 30 days and NCLAT can condone the delay of a period of 15 days only.
The relevant part of the section reads thus:
“61. Appeals and Appellate Authority.
(1) .…
(2) Every appeal under sub-section (1) shall be filed within thirty days before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal.
The Supreme Court held that a similar issue fell for consideration in the case of Kalpraj Dharamshi versus Kotak Mahindra Investment bank wherein the Supreme Court already held that an appeal shall be filed before NCLAT within a period of 30 days from the date of order passed by NCLT.
Therefore, reiterating that the said provision cannot be interpreted lightly. The appeal should strictly be filed within the term prescribed i.e. 30 days. Also, The NCLAT cannot exceed its powers to condone a delay that is more than a period of 15 days.