SC allows Ashdan Prop's IBC plea against DSK Global in DS Kulkarni land case
This story was originally published at 14:09 IST on 12 August 2025
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NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Ashdan Properties Pvt. Ltd.'s resolution plan to extinguish DSK Global Education and Research Pvt. Ltd.'s rights on the building that the latter had built on corporate debtor D.S. Kulkarni Developers Ltd.'s leased land. DSK Global had invested more than INR 2.63 billion for construction of a university on the leased land.
The apex court held that DSK Global was late in filing an appeal and did not file a condonation of delay application in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal against the National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai bench's order to approve Ashdan Properties's resolution plan for D.S. Kulkarni. The fact that DSK Global casually e-filed an appeal on Jul. 25, 2023, with neither an application for condonation of delay nor an application seeking exemption from filing a certified copy of the Mumbai tribunal's order, rendered its appeal defective, said the apex court.
Admittedly, it was only on Aug. 25, 2023, that DSK Global filed an application seeking permission to file the appeal and an application for condonation of delay was filed much later on Sept. 22, 2023, noted the court. Presumably, it was at this time that a certified copy of the Mumbai tribunal's order was filed without even seeking exemption or extension of time to do so, the apex court added.
The Mumbai tribunal had passed its order for approval of Ashdan Properties' resolution plan Jun. 23, 2023. Section 61(2) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, prescribes that every appeal against an order of the National Company Law Tribunal concerned, should be filed before the jurisdictional National Company Law Appellate Tribunal within 30 days. A provision to this, however, allows the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal to permit the appeal to be filed even after expiry of the period of 30 days, if it is satisfied that there was sufficient cause for not filing the appeal within that time but such extended period shall not exceed 15 days.
The top court noted that a certified copy of the Mumbai tribunal's order was not filed along with its appeal to the appellate tribunal. Rule 22(2) of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal Rules, 2016, mandates that every appeal filed before the appellate tribunal shall be accompanied by a certified copy of the impugned order. When the appeal was e-filed by it on Jul. 25, 2023, DSK Global neither filed an application seeking exemption from filing a certified copy of the order nor did it file an application seeking condonation of the delay, if any, in the filing of its appeal, said the top court.
"These aspects ought to have been considered by the NCLAT as the statute peremptorily requires proper institution of an appeal in conformity with all the prescribed norms and it was incumbent upon the NCLAT to examine and verify as to whether respondent No. 1's (DSK Global) appeal was in due compliance with all such norms," said the apex court. The appellate tribunal erred in completely brushing aside this crucial aspect which went to the very root of its appellate jurisdiction.
On Jul. 1, 2024, the appellate tribunal had allowed a plea by DSK Global and rejected Ashdan Properties' plan to the extent that it extinguished DSK's rights on the building that the latter had built on D.S. Kulkarni Developers Ltd.'s leased land. Challenging this, Ashdan Properties moved the Supreme Court. End
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury
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