Hero Exports Vs Mr. K. Vasudevan (CIRP) (NCLAT Chennai)
In Hero Exports v. Mr. K. Vasudevan, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), Chennai, dismissed Hero Exports’ appeal against an approved resolution plan, emphasizing the strict limitation period outlined in Section 61 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The case arose after Hero Exports contested a resolution plan approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Chennai, in favor of Respondent No. 3. Hero Exports had initially filed a recall application with NCLT to challenge this approval, which was denied on 04.11.2019. Subsequently, Hero Exports approached the High Court of Madras, which also rejected its revision petitions. The NCLAT ruled that once the resolution plan was approved, any appeal must be filed within the specific time period under Section 61 of the IBC, and the Limitation Act could not be applied to extend this timeframe.
The appellant argued that Section 14 of the Limitation Act should apply, permitting the exclusion of time spent in litigation before the High Court. Additionally, Hero Exports sought to use the COVID-19 extension granted by the Supreme Court in Suo Moto Writ Petition No. 3/2020, which extended limitation periods due to the pandemic. However, NCLAT held that Section 61 of the IBC is a self-contained provision that does not allow for such extensions. It clarified that the COVID-19 extension was not applicable, as the appeal periods in this case fell before the pandemic-related extension cut-off date of 15.03.2020. As Hero Exports filed its appeal only on 07.11.2021, well beyond the IBC’s time limit, NCLAT dismissed the appeal as time-barred.
