SHANKAR KHANDELWAL Vs. OMKARA ASSET RECONSTRUCTION PVT. LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These appeals under Sec. 62 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (hereinafter referred to as "the Code"), are directed against the impugned judgment dtd. 15/10/2025 passed by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), whereby the order dtd. 22/1/2025 passed by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), admitting two separate petitions under Sec. 7 of the Code and initiating the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP), has been affirmed.

(2.) The central question that arises for determination in these appeals are whether the application filed under Sec. 7 of the Code by the secured financial creditor was within the period of limitation.

(3.) The facts giving rise to the filing of these appeals, briefly stated, are that the appellant is the erstwhile Director of Shrinathji Business Ventures Private Limited and Samaria Business Ventures Private Limited (Corporate Debtors). Two separate loans were sanctioned by Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd., (DHFL) in September 2014 for sums of Rs.12.00 crores and Rs.11.00 crores, out of which Rs.11.50 crores and Rs.11.00 crores respectively were disbursed. The corporate debtors defaulted in repayment, and on 6/12/2016, DHFL classified their accounts as Non-Performing Assets (NPA). Subsequently, DHFL itself entered CIRP pursuant to proceedings initiated by the Reserve Bank of India, and on 7/6/2021, a resolution plan submitted by Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Ltd., (PCHFL) was approved by the NCLT, Mumbai. On 10/1/2021, PCHFL assigned the subject loans to Omkara Asset Reconstruction Pvt. Ltd., the secured financial creditor.