Facts
The present appeal was filed against the order passed on by the Adjudicating Authority on 17th March 2021. During the hearing of the judgement made on 17th March 2021, the Appellant asked to exclude the time consumed on account of time lost because of the Central and State Government lockdowns. The Appellant also asked to exclude the time consumed because of I.A 4208 of 2020.
The Adjudicating Authority decided to exclude 97 days from 25th March 2020 to 30th June 2020 instead of 160 days. The Appellant wasn’t satisfied with this judgement of the Tribunal.
Arguments Advanced
The Learned Counsel of the Appellant stated that as per Section 12(3) of the IBC, 330 days’ time is fixed. Yet, due to the lockdown, a total of 160 days were lost along 92 days which were lost because of pendency of I.A 4208 of 2020. If the time consumed is not excluded then the Resolution Professional will not be able to complete the Resolution process with respect to the Corporate Debtor
The Learned Counsel stated that the CIRP of the Corporate Debtor had only 3 meetings in a span of six months from the date of its commencement on 26th February 2020. The Learned Counsel further added that according to IBC Code 330 is given for the completion of the CIRP. However, in the present case in which 97 days excluded out of which 54 days are already exhausted due to which there are only 43 days left. These 43 are too insufficient for the completion of the CIRP. The learned Counsel used the case of Essar Steel India Ltd. Vs. Satish Kumar & Ors 2019.
The Learned Adjudicating Authority stated that time consumed should be considered as an extension of Section 12 (3) of the Code due to which no extension beyond 330 days should be given.
Court Observation
The Tribunal referred to the arguments made by both sides. The Tribunal also referred to the case Anil Tayal vs. Committee of Creditors 2021 in which they excluded time consumed for judicial intervention.
Decision
The Tribunal has dismissed the 92 days and 160 days that were excluded for time lost for pending I.A 4208 and time consuming due to the lockdown. Further time spent in filing the appeal is also excluded. Hence there have been few changes made in the order dated 17th March 2021.
Libertatem.in is now on Telegram. Follow us for regular legal updates and judgment from courts. Follow us on Google News, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter. You can subscribe to our Weekly Email Updates. You can also contribute stories like this and help us spread awareness for a better society. Submit Your Post Now.
