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2021 (3) TMI 631 - AT - Insolvency and BankruptcyCondonation of delay of 193 days in filing appeal - sufficient cause for delay present or not - application for Review before NCLT - Jurisdiction of NCLT to decide on the issue - Doctrine of Merger - Balance of Convenience - HELD THAT:- Section 61 of the ‘Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code’ enjoins that an ‘Appeal’ shall be filed within 30 days before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal and a further period of 15 days is provided only if ‘sufficient cause’ is made out for preferring the ‘Appeal’ within the extended period. Furthermore, the aspect of ‘Consolidated Appeal’ does not arise in any event, the ‘application for condonation of delay’, is liable to be dismissed, of course with costs. One cannot ignore a prime fact that the ‘term’ ‘sufficient cause’ implies no negligence, nor inaction nor want of bonafides on the part of the litigant. In fact, in excluding the time, the period starting from the institution of former proceeding till the end of the said proceeding, would be calculated. If a litigant was bonafide prosecuting his rights in a ‘Court’/’Tribunal’ due to wrong advise, the limitation shall remain in ‘limbo’, which is the underlying Principle of Section 14 of the Limitation Act, 1963 - The essence of ‘sufficient cause’ is whether it was an act of prudence or reasonable man on the part of person filing an ‘Appeal’. It is to be taken note of that whether the ‘Appellant’ had acted with reasonable diligence in prosecuting his ‘Appeal’. Although an ‘Appeal’ is filed after the expiry of 30 days, if the ‘Tribunal’ is satisfied that there was ‘sufficient cause’ in not filing an ‘Appeal’, but such period had not exceeded 15 days, this ‘Tribunal’ bearing in mind that an axiomatic principle in law that if a party/litigant was involved in a ‘Bonafide Litigious Activity’, then, the said time spent in such litigation can be excluded, because of the fact that the said party had acted with reasonable diligence in prosecuting his ‘Appeal’ - in the present case, the action of the Petitioner/Appellant in moving the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Civil Appeal No.3169 of 2019 after the ‘Impugned Order’ dated 25.6.2019 passed by the ‘Adjudicating Authority’, instead of preferring an ‘Appeal’ before this ‘Tribunal’ and later filing of the ‘Review Proceeding’ before the ‘Adjudicating Authority’, pursuant to the liberty granted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court as per order dated 29.7.2019 are bonafide, of course based on act of prudence or reasonable person in prosecuting the concerned proceeding with reasonable due diligence. The ‘time spent’ in prosecuting the legal remedy by the Petitioner/Appellant/Bank is required to be excluded while computing the period of limitation as envisaged under section 61(2) of the ‘Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, 2016 - this ‘Tribunal’ by adopting a practical, purposeful, meaningful, a rational approach and by taking a pragmatic view of the matter in a lenient and liberal manner condones the delay of 193 days in furtherance of substantial cause of justice. Application allowed.
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