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Judgment
ORDER
The Applicant has filed this application seeking condonation of delay of 11 days in filing of the appeal against the impugned order dated 28.04.2023 passed by the Adjudicating Authority (National Company Law Tribunal, Special Bench (Court -1) Chennai in I.A. (IBC) No. 339/CHE/2023 in CP (IB)/990/2019 by which an application filed by the Appellant has been dismissed as infructuous.
There is no dispute that the impugned order was passed on 28.04.2023 and a statutory period of 30 days counted from the order dated 28.04.2023 expired on 28.05.2023. The appeal has been filed on 08.06.2023 but by that time further period of 11 days had expired.
The appeal is a statutory right under Section 61 of the Code which deals with appeals and appellate authority. Section 61 is reproduced as under: -
“Section 61. Appeals and Appellate Authority.
(1)Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained under the Companies Act 2013 (18 of 2013), any person aggrieved by the order of the Adjudicating Authority under this part may prefer an appeal to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal.
(2)Every appeal under sub-section (1) shall be filed within thirty days before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal: Provided that the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal may allow an appeal to be filed after the expiry of the said period of thirty days if it is satisfied that there was sufficient cause for not filing the appeal but such period shall not exceed fifteen days.”
Section 61(1) provides that any person who is aggrieved by an order of the Adjudicating Authority has a right to prefer an appeal to the appellate authority. Whereas Section 61(2) provides that there shall be a period of 30 days for filing such an appeal before the Appellate Authority and proviso to Section 61(2) says that the Appellate Authority may allow the appeal to be filed even after expiry of 30 days if it is satisfied that there is a sufficient cause for not filing the appeal in time but such period shall not exceed 15 days.
The reason given in the application is that the Applicant is 67 years old, residing at Puducheri and had to travel and engage a counsel for filing the appeal. He has also submitted that the Applicant is poor and having indifferent health in that period.
We have heard Counsel for the Applicant and after perusal of the application, are of the considered opinion that the period of 30 days prescribed by the Legislature as statutory period for filing the appeal had expired on 28.05.2023. Thereafter a window of 15 days is provided to file an application with sufficient cause and that the Appellate Tribunal can entertain the appeal in case it finds that the reason given in the application is sufficient.
The reason given in the present application is totally sketchy and does not inspire any confidence for the purpose of opening the window for the Applicant by condoning the delay. It appears that the Appellant has not taken statutory period of limitation seriously and by the time she woke up from her slumber a further period of 11 days had also expired.
We could exercise our jurisdiction only if the Applicant put up a sufficient cause for not approaching the Court in time but we do not find any reason to interfere in this application because the reason assigned in the application and during the course of hearing does not inspire confidence for the purpose of condonation of delay. Consequently, the application is without any merit and hence the same is hereby dismissed.
CA (AT) (Ins) No. 202 of 2023
Since, we have dismissed the application for condonation of delay, therefore, this appeal cannot be treated as duly constituted, therefore, the present appeal is hereby dismissed as such.