Authority: National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Ahmedabad Bench, Court No. 2

Order Date: 06/07/2026

Case Overview

This matter concerns an application (IA No. 1422/NCLT/AHM/2025) filed by M/s. Suwarna Buildcon Pvt. Ltd. (Applicant/Operational Creditor) under Rule 11 of the NCLT Rules, 2016. The application was filed within the main insolvency petition CP(IB) No. 48/NCLT/AHM/2023, which was initiated under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016 against M/s. Sadbhav Engineering Limited (Respondent/Corporate Debtor).

The Applicant sought to amend the date of default mentioned in the main petition from 08.08.2020 to 30.04.2018. The Applicant contended that this was a clerical and typographical error and that the default first occurred on 30th April 2018 when the Corporate Debtor failed to release a payment of Rs. 11,56,07,318/- for work executed between 01.01.2018 and 31.03.2018. The Applicant argued that the amendment was necessary for proper adjudication, would not introduce a new cause of action, and should be permitted as no final order had been pronounced. They cited several judicial precedents to support the permissibility of amendments at any stage before a final order.

The Respondent opposed the amendment, arguing that the date of default (08.08.2020) was consistently mentioned in the application, demand notice, and a Form-D certificate issued by the National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL) on 08.01.2024. The Respondent contended that the change was not a mere typographical error but a substantive alteration filed at a belated stage (in 2025 for a 2023 petition) during final arguments. They argued that altering the date was an afterthought to avoid the rigors of Section 10A of the IBC, which prohibits the initiation of corporate insolvency resolution processes for defaults occurring between 25th March 2020 and 25th March 2021 (COVID-19 period).

The Tribunal heard arguments from both parties' advocates, Mr. Ankit Pitty for the Applicant and Mr. Ravi Pahwa for the Respondent, and perused their written submissions.

Final Outcome

The NCLT Bench, comprising Mrs. Chitra Hankare (Member Judicial) and Dr. V.G. Venkata Chalapathy (Member Technical), rejected the application (IA No. 1422 of 2025). The tribunal concluded that the consistently cited date of 08.08.2020 across all documents, including the NeSL certificate, indicated it was not a clerical error. The bench found that changing the date was a substantive alteration that affected the nature of the petition and potentially its maintainability under Section 10A of the IBC. The application was filed with an inordinate delay and was rejected as it altered the nature of the claim and created a new cause of action.

Topics: Insolvency Proceedings, Legal Interpretation