State of Tamil Nadu Vs S. Muthuraju (NCLAT Chennai)
The appeal before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, Chennai Bench, arose from the rejection of a tax claim filed by the Appellant in the liquidation proceedings of a corporate debtor. The tax liabilities related to various assessment orders for assessment years from 2003–2004 to 2016–2017. The corporate debtor was ordered to be liquidated by the National Company Law Tribunal, Chennai, on 21.06.2018 in CP/611/IB/2017, and liquidation commenced on the same date. A public notice inviting claims was issued on 27.06.2018, fixing 26.07.2018 as the last date for submission of claims.
Despite the commencement of liquidation, the Appellant filed its claim only on 12.02.2020, nearly 351 days after the prescribed cut-off period. The liquidator rejected the claim on 17.02.2020 on multiple grounds: the claim was not filed in the prescribed form, it was not in accordance with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and the applicable rules and regulations, and it was barred by limitation under Regulation 16(1) of the IBBI (Liquidation Process) Regulations, 2016. The rejection was duly communicated to the Appellant. No appeal was filed within the statutory period of 14 days provided under Section 42 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
