Commercial Litigation

It depends on the court's workload, the number of witnesses and how the parties conduct the case, so any estimate is given only after the pleadings are in. Commercial suits run to a tighter timetable: the written statement cannot be filed beyond 120 days from service, and the court fixes a calendar at the case management hearing. Interim applications are decided much earlier and often settle the practical position long before trial.

Check the amount claimed against the account statements, the date and basis of the NPA classification and the description of the secured assets. Within the sixty days, the borrower can pay, propose a settlement or object under Section 13(3A), and the lender must answer an objection with reasons within fifteen days. The notice itself cannot be challenged before the DRT; the remedy under Section 17 arises once measures under Section 13(4) are taken.

₹1 crore, since 2020. Below that, a creditor cannot start a corporate insolvency resolution process, though it can use a civil suit, a summary suit, arbitration or, for banks and financial institutions, the Debt Recovery Tribunal and the SARFAESI Act. Pre-packaged insolvency for MSMEs has a lower minimum default of ₹10 lakh, but only the corporate debtor itself can start it.

The demand notice must be sent within thirty days of receiving the bank's information that the cheque was returned unpaid. The drawer then has fifteen days from receiving the notice to pay. If payment is not made, the complaint must be filed within one month after those fifteen days end, under Section 142 of the NI Act, although the court can condone delay for sufficient cause.

Under the Limitation Act, 1963, most suits for money due under a contract, for goods sold and delivered or on a loan must be filed within three years, counted from the date the relevant article of the Act specifies. A written acknowledgment of the debt signed before the period expires starts a fresh period (Section 18), and so can a part-payment (Section 19). Delay in filing a suit, unlike delay in an appeal, cannot be condoned.

The Debt Recovery Tribunal at Jabalpur, whose jurisdiction covers Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It hears recovery applications by banks and financial institutions for debts of ₹20 lakh and above, and applications under Section 17 of the SARFAESI Act against measures taken on assets in Chhattisgarh. Appeals from its orders go to the Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal, subject to the pre-deposit the law requires.