CA Ramchandra Dallaram Choudhary Vs Adani Infrastructure & Developers Private Limited (Supreme Court of India)
Summary: The Supreme Court allowed the appeal against the NCLAT order dated 6th February, 2025 rejecting the applications for condonation of delay in filing and refiling an appeal under Section 61 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The appeal before the NCLAT challenged the NCLT’s order partly allowing an application filed by Adani Infrastructure & Developers Private Limited under Section 60(5) of the IBC and Rule 11 of the NCLT Rules, including the direction that the applicant be exonerated from interest on the balance consideration and that the liquidator not forfeit the EMD at that stage.
The Liquidator’s appeal was initially filed 13 days beyond the prescribed 30-day period and was subsequently refiled after curing defects. The Supreme Court held that the plea regarding difficulties arising from the distance between Delhi and Ahmedabad was unsound, but that merely raising an unsound plea did not mean that the appellant had approached the NCLAT with unclean hands. Considering that the appellant had taken necessary steps within the prescribed and extended periods, the subsequent delay involved dependence on lawyers and their clerk, and the dispute would be better decided after a contested hearing, the Court held that “sufficient cause” ought to be construed liberally. The NCLAT order was set aside and the NCLAT was directed to hear the appeal on merits.
