NCLT: Additional Claim Filed As Revision, Substantial Reason For Ignoring The Delay Under IBC

NCLT: Additional Claim Filed As Revision, Substantial Reason For Ignoring The Delay Under IBC

The tribunal explained that "Section 38(5) enabled withdrawing or varying the assertion already submitted by the creditor

The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has held that the additional claim, filed as a revision of the initial claim, cannot be rejected.

The bench comprising Kuldeep Kumar Kareer (Judicial Member) and Anil Raj Chellan (Technical Member) deliberated on the question of ascertaining whether the delay of 125 days in submitting the revised claim could bar the creditor from filing an appeal.

The question was whether there were sufficient reasons to condone the delay. Once the reasons were established, under Section 42 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016, the Adjudicating Authority (AA) had the power to condone the delay.

The NCLT noted that the applicant had pleaded sufficient reasons justifying the revision of the claim even after 14 days from the date of admission of the initial claim.

The IBC permitted the creditor to appeal to the AA against the liquidator’s decision to accept or reject the claims within 14 days.

The bench held, "Section 38(5) of the IBC is an enabling provision to withdraw or vary the claim already submitted by a creditor. It is not intended to restrict the creditors from submitting a fresh or a revised claim."

"The claim could also have been filed as a separate claim and the applicant could have sought condonation of delay for the additional claim," it added.