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Supreme Court of India· 10 September 2026

Does limitation run against a litigant only while the court or tribunal is open and able to receive papers presented bona fide and in time?

REGIONAL PROVIDENT FUND COMMISSIONER-II v. MS. MAMTA BINANI & ORS
2026 INSC 1003
Coram: Justice Dipankar Datta · Justice Sheel Nagu
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Answer

Limitation runs against a litigant only when the court or tribunal is open and functional to receive papers presented bona fide and in time.

Yes. Limitation runs against a litigant only when the court or tribunal is open and functional to receive papers presented bona fide and in time. When the system of the court or tribunal fails to receive papers sought to be presented bona fide and within the prescribed time, the litigant cannot be rendered remediless merely because the court or tribunal has no power to condone the delay. (¶19)

Headnote

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 — s.61(2) — Limitation — Actus curiae neminem gravabit — Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 — Order VII Rule 6 — Condonation of delay — Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 — s.61(2) — Tribunal's own system failure — Held: A litigant must not be denied remedy for e-filing an appeal a day beyond Section 61(2)'s condonable limit where delay is caused by the tribunal's own e-filing failure. The remedy lies in actus curiae neminem gravabit, not an enlarged condoning power. (¶13, 19) Actus curiae neminem gravabit — Limitation runs only when tribunal is functional — Held further: Limitation runs against a litigant only when the court or tribunal is open and functional to receive papers presented bona fide and in time. A litigant cannot be left remediless where the tribunal's own system failed to receive a timely, bona fide filing. (¶19) Ratio decidendi — Precedent confined to its own facts — Held further: A decision is authority only for the points that arose on its own facts, not for conclusions that merely appear similar. National Spot Exchange Ltd. and Tata Steel Ltd. accordingly had no application to the stark difference in facts here. (¶10, 11, 12) Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 — Order VII Rule 6 — Applied to IBC by analogy — Held further: Principles of Order VII Rule 6, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 can be invoked in an appropriate case under the IBC though that Code does not otherwise apply. The NCLAT ought to have treated the appellant's first bona fide e-filing attempt as the date of presentation. Appeal allowed; NCLAT's order set aside and the condonation application restored for reconsideration. (¶20, 23, 24)

Headnote

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In the Court's own words
Paragraph 19However, given the nature of the system fault that impeded the e-filing of the appeal by the appellant and that the day’s delay could hardly be attributed to it, the NCLAT ought to have invoked the higher principle of “actus curiae neminem gravabit”. Law is well-settled that limitation runs against a litigant only when the court/tribunal is open and functional, in the sense that it is capable of receiving the papers pertaining to the lis sought to be presented by a party aggrieved. When the system of the court/tribunal fails to receive the papers, which are sought to be presented bona fide and within the prescribed time, the litigant cannot be rendered remediless on the specious ground that the court/tribunal has no power to condone the delay. Though the appellant did pray, it was not a case for condonation of delay; rather, what was implicit in the appellant’s prayer was that the NCLAT, in the peculiar facts and circumstances, may exempt the period for which the e-filing system was non-functional from the period of limitation and to hold that the appeal, in the eye of law, was presented within the 45 (forty-five) day outer limit.
Acts & Sections
Section 61(2) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016Section 61(1) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016Order VII Rule 6 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908

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Also decided in this judgment
Whether a litigant should be shown the door for e-filing an appeal beyond the statutorily condonable period where the delay was for bona fide reasons beyond the litigant's control and the fault lay entirely with the Registry of the NCLAT?Is a decision authority only for the points that arose on its own facts, and not for conclusions that merely appear similar?Can principles of Order VII Rule 6, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 be invoked in an appropriate case under the IBC?
Plain-language answer prepared by the LexStreak Editorial Desk — verify against the judgment. Source: Supreme Court of India. Corrections