सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने कहा: ट्रिब्यूनल के ई‑फाइलिंग गड़बड़ी से अपील का अधिकार नहीं खोना चाहिए

Litigant cannot lose right to appeal over tribunal's e-filing glitch: SC

The Supreme Court said the period during which the tribunal's filing system was non-functional could be excluded while calculating the statutory limitation period

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The Supreme Court recently held that a litigant should not lose the right to appeal merely because a tribunal’s e-filing system prevented a timely filing.

A Bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu made the observation while reviving an appeal filed by the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner-II (RPFC) against an order approving a resolution plan for Rolta India Limited.

The appeal was lodged before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) one day beyond the statutory deadline after repeated attempts to upload it failed because of technical problems with the tribunal’s portal.

Under Section 61(2) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, an appeal against an NCLT order must ordinarily be filed within 30 days. The NCLAT can condone a delay of up to another 15 days if sufficient cause is shown.

In this case, the limitation period ended on January 14, 2026, while January 29 was the final day of the additional 15-day period. The RPFC attempted to file the appeal online on January 28 but could not complete the process because of problems with OTP delivery. A further attempt on January 29 also failed after the NCLAT Registry reported a backend technical issue.

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The appeal was ultimately uploaded on January 30.

The NCLAT dismissed it as time-barred on May 21, holding that it lacked jurisdiction to condone a delay beyond the 45-day statutory ceiling.

The Supreme Court disagreed with the approach while acknowledging that the NCLAT itself could not extend the limitation period beyond the statutory maximum.

The Bench relied on the principle actus curiae neminem gravabit — an act of the court should prejudice no one — and said the period during which the tribunal’s filing system was non-functional could have been excluded while computing limitation.

A report from the NCLAT Registry dated May 6 confirmed that the RPFC had been attempting to file the appeal since January 28 and that the failure was attributable to technical difficulties.

The Court observed that treating January 28, when the first bona fide attempt was made, as the effective filing date would have avoided the issue of statutory condonation altogether.

It consequently set aside the NCLAT’s order and restored the RPFC’s appeal and its application concerning the delay for consideration on merits.

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Topics : Supreme Court NCLAT E-Filing

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First Published: Sep 17 2026 | 7:23 PM IST

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