1. Shib Shankar Rungta Proprietor Of ... vs 1. Jai Jute And Industries Limited

Shib Shankar Rungta ....Appellant (Proprietor of S.S. Rungta & Company) Vs. Jai Jute Industries Ltd. ...Respondent For Appellant: Mr. Saurabh Kalia, Mr. Rahul Ahuja, PCS Shruti Singhania, Advocates. For Respondent: Mr. Abhijeet Sinha, Mr. Siddharth Sharma, Mr. Arjun Asthana, Advocates

ORDER

(Through Virtual Mode)

24.02.2022: Heard Shri Saurabh Kalia, Learned Counsel for the

Appellant.

2. This Appeal has been filed against the order dated 25.11.2019 as well

as subsequent order dated 24.03.2021 passed by the Adjudicating Authority

(National Company Law Tribunal), Kolkata Bench, Kolkata. An Application

was filed by the Appellant under Section 9 on which the Adjudicating Authority

noticed in its order dated 06.09.2019 that talks for settlement are going on.

Subsequently the matter was fixed for 25.11.2019 but on which date neither

of the parties have appeared and the Adjudicating Authority dismissed the

Application for default. An Application for restoration was filed by the

Applicant on 25.08.2020 for recall of the order dismissing in default which 2

Application has now been dismissed by the Adjudicating Authority by order

dated 24.03.2021.

3. Shri Saurabh Kalia, Learned Counsel for the Appellant submits that

settlement talks were going on and he has received the offer of settlement. It

is further submitted that the Appellant was suffering from different ailments,

hence, he could not file the Application.

4. Date of 25.11.2019 was fixed in presence of the Appellant and Appellant

was well aware that on 25.11.2019, Adjudicating Authority shall take up the

matter but no one appeared and no efforts were taken by the Appellant to find

out the order of 25.11.2019 to take appropriate action.

5. Appellant has come up with the case that he had issued certain cheques

by the Respondent-Corporate Debtor which were not encashed and were

dishonored. He came to know of it on 14.01.2020 only. On the record, it

appears that an Application under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument

Act was filed regarding the dishonor of the cheques but Application for

restoration was filed only on 25.08.2020. There is no proper explanation for

not filing the restoration application from the date of dismissal till the date of

the lockdown was imposed due to Covid-19 i.e. from 25.11.2019 till

24.03.2020. Learned Adjudicating Authority has held that there are no

sufficient cause for allowing the restoration Application. We are also of the

view that no error has been committed by the Adjudicating Authority in

rejecting the restoration application. There is no explanation for delay in filing

the Application from 25.11.2019 till 24.03.2020. There is no ground to

Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 181 & 182 of 2022 3

interfere with the order. There is not merit in the Appeal. The Appeal is

dismissed.

[Justice Ashok Bhushan] Chairperson

[Dr. Alok Srivastava] Member (Technical) Anjali/nn

Comp. App. (AT) (Ins.) No. 181 & 182 of 2022