Livein Aqua Solutions Pvt. Ltd. v. HDFC Bank Ltd., 2025 INSC 1349 - IBC - Defective Affidavit
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 - Section 7 -Mere filing of a ‘defective’ affidavit in support of an application would not render the very application non est and liable to be rejected on that ground as it is neither an incurable nor a fundamental defect. (Para 17)
Practice and Procedure - Non-compliance with any procedural requirement relating to an application for relief should not entail automatic dismissal or rejection, unless the relevant statute or rule so mandates, and procedural defects and irregularities which are curable should not be allowed to defeat substantive rights or to cause injustice -Procedure, a handmaiden to justice, should never be made a tool to deny justice or perpetuate injustice, by any oppressive or punitive use. (Para 18)
Case Info
Key Details
- Case name: Livein Aqua Solutions Private Limited v. HDFC Bank Limited
- Neutral citation: 2025 INSC 1349
- Coram: Justice Sanjay Kumar; Justice Alok Aradhe
- Judgment date: November 24, 2025
- Court: Supreme Court of India, Civil Appellate Jurisdiction, Civil Appeal No. 11766 of 2025
Caselaws and Citations
- Dena Bank (now Bank of Baroda) v. C. Shivakumar Reddy & Anr., (2021) 10 SCC 330 — applied for the mandate under proviso to Section 7(5)(b) IBC and curability of defects.
- Vidyawati Gupta & Ors. v. Bhakti Hari Nayak & Ors., (2006) 2 SCC 77 — procedure to further justice, not hinder it.
- Uday Shankar Triyar v. Ram Kalewar Prasad Singh & Anr., (2006) 1 SCC 75 — curable procedural defects should not defeat substantive rights.
Statutes/Laws Referred
- Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016:
- Section 7(2) (application by financial creditor)
- Section 7(5)(b) and its proviso (notice to rectify defects; seven-day period)
- Section 62 (appeal to Supreme Court)
- Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Application to Adjudicating Authority) Rules, 2016:
- Rule 4(1); Form 1
- NCLT Rules, 2016:
- Part-III (Rules 20–27) – filing procedure
- Rule 10(1) – interim application routing under IBC
- Rule 28(1)–(4) – scrutiny and defects, Registrar’s powers
- Rule 34(4) – affidavit verification in Form NCLT.6
- Rule 38(5) – service on authorized representative
- Rule 63 – appeal against Registrar’s decision
