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Regional Provident Fund Commissioner-II v. Mamta Binani & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 1003Decided 10 Sept 2026
Civil Appeal arising out of Diary No. 42931 of 2026
Justice Dipankar Datta · Justice Sheel Nagu

Background

The NCLT approved a resolution plan for Rolta India Limited on 15 December 2025. The Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, aggrieved by this approval, tried to e-file an appeal before the NCLAT starting from 28 January 2026, one day before the outer condonable limit (30 days + 15 days grace) under Section 61(2) of the IBC expired, but the NCLAT's own e-filing portal suffered a technical/OTP glitch that prevented filing on both 28 and 29 January. The appeal was finally e-filed on 30 January 2026, one day beyond the maximum permissible period, and the NCLAT dismissed the condonation application and the appeal itself as time-barred, holding it had no power to condone delay beyond the statutory 45-day outer limit.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court agreed that the NCLAT correctly read Section 61(2) as allowing no condonation beyond 45 days, and that its own precedents (National Spot Exchange, Tata Steel) were correctly stated but factually distinguishable since those cases involved litigant fault, not tribunal system failure. Here, the delay was caused entirely by a backend/OTP failure in the NCLAT's own e-filing system, as confirmed by the NCLAT Registry's own report. Invoking the principle "actus curiae neminem gravabit" (an act of the court shall harm no one), the Court held that limitation runs against a litigant only when the court/tribunal's own systems are actually capable of receiving filings; when the tribunal's system itself fails, the litigant should not be penalised. It set aside the NCLAT's order and restored the appeal for fresh consideration, directing that the date of the first bona fide e-filing attempt be treated as the date of presentation.

Lesson Learnt

Even a rigid statutory limitation deadline cannot be used to shut a litigant out when the delay is proven to be caused by a failure of the court or tribunal's own filing system, not the litigant's fault. Courts can exempt such periods from limitation computation under the "actus curiae neminem gravabit" principle.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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