Supreme Court restores NCLAT appeal delayed by e-filing glitch

The core issue is whether a litigant should be penalized for a one-day delay in filing an appeal caused by a technical glitch in the NCLAT's e-filing system.

Who it concerns: Petitioner/Appellant: Regional Provident Fund Commissioner-II; Respondents: Ms. Mamta Binani & Ors.; Bench: Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu.

What the court decided

• Allowed the Supreme Court appeal and set aside the NCLAT order dated 21st May, 2026.
• Restored Comp. App. (AT) (Ins) No. 503 of 2026 and I.A. No. 1951 of 2026 to the NCLAT file for reconsideration.
• Directed the NCLAT to dispose of I.A. No. 1951 of 2026 at the earliest.
• Ordered that if the NCLAT decides in favor of the appellant, the appeal shall be registered and decided in accordance with law.
• Ordered that parties shall bear their own costs.

Also in the document

• The Court applied the legal principle 'actus curiae neminem gravabit' (act of the court shall not prejudice anyone), holding that a litigant cannot be rendered remediless due to a system failure at the tribunal's end.
• The Court noted that the delay was caused by OTP delivery failures and backend technical defects in the NCLAT's e-filing portal, which were beyond the appellant's control.
• The Court distinguished this case from previous precedents (National Spot Exchange Ltd. and Tata Steel Ltd.) by emphasizing that the delay was due to a bona fide system fault rather than the litigant's negligence or ignorance of the law.