Appellant who has filed an Appeal under Section 61 of IBC is entitled benefit u/s 14 of the Limitation Act, 1963 for proceeding in the High Court under Article 226 which writ proceedings were also dismissed on the ground of availability of the alternative remedy – Vikram Bhawanishankar Sharma, Member of the Suspended Board of Directors of Supreme Vasai Bhiwandi Tollways Pvt. Ltd. Vs. SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd. & Anr. – NCLAT New Delhi
NCLAT observed that the Appellant filed writ petition at the time when there was no notice of any sitting of Vacation Bench in the winter vacation of Appellate Tribunal. Impugned Order has been passed on 22.12.2022 and uploaded on 23.12.2022, it can not be denied that there was urgency on the part of the Appellant for obtaining immediate relief hence it can not be said that filing of writ petition by the Appellant before the Hon’ble High Court was not bona fide. Kalpraj Dharamshi (2021) ibclaw.in 40 SC itself was a case where benefit of Section 14 of the Limitation Act was claimed on the ground that proceedings under Article 226 were being prosecuted in the Hon’ble Bombay High Court which benefit was extended by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and which benefit as per Judgment of Hon’ble Supreme was clearly admissible to any Appeal under Section 61 of the Code. The Judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Kalpraj Dharamshi (supra) being judgment directly applicable in the facts of the present that i.e. exclusion of period during which the Writ Petition was being prosecuted by the Appellant in an Appeal filed under Section 61 of the Code, we are of the view and feel ourselves bound to follow the Judgment of Supreme Court.
