Hasmukh Kanubhai Shah Vs Aurobindo Pharmaceuticals Ltd (NCLAT Chennai)
The appeal before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, Chennai arose from the rejection of an application seeking condonation of a 308-day delay in filing a company appeal under Section 59 of the Companies Act, 2013. The appellant claimed to be the holder of 500 shares in the respondent company and relied on a delivery memo dated 31.03.2025 to establish shareholding, asserting that no share certificates were ever issued.
It was admitted that the appellant first became aware on 11.05.2016 that the shares had allegedly been wrongfully transferred to a third party. After issuing notices in 2016 and receiving a response stating that the transfer had occurred in 1998, the appellant filed a commercial civil suit in 2019 seeking monetary recovery in lieu of share value. That suit was dismissed on 05.10.2021 as barred by limitation, with the plaint rejected under Section 3 of the Limitation Act read with Order VII Rule 11(d) CPC. The appellant did not challenge that decision.
Subsequently, the appellant initiated proceedings under Section 59 of the Companies Act before the NCLT, Hyderabad, which were dismissed as time-barred. Before the Appellate Tribunal, the appellant argued for exclusion of time spent in the commercial suit under Section 14 of the Limitation Act.
