CHAPTER VI - ADJUDICATING AUTHORITY FOR CORPORATE PERSONS
Section 60 IBC: Adjudicating Authority for Corporate Persons
Section 60 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 identifies the National Company Law Tribunal as the Adjudicating Authority for insolvency resolution and liquidation of corporate persons and for insolvency resolution or bankruptcy of their personal guarantors. It also centralises connected proceedings, claims and questions arising from corporate insolvency before the NCLT and provides an exclusion of the moratorium period when computing limitation.
Section 60 - Adjudicating Authority for Corporate Persons
(1) The Adjudicating Authority, in relation to insolvency resolution and liquidation for corporate persons including corporate debtors and personal guarantors thereof shall be the National Company Law Tribunal having territorial jurisdiction over the place where the registered office of the corporate person is located.
(2) Without prejudice to sub-section (1) and notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Code, where a corporate insolvency resolution process or liquidation proceeding of a corporate debtor is pending before a National Company Law Tribunal, an application relating to the insolvency resolution or bankruptcy of a personal guarantor of such corporate debtor shall be filed before such National Company Law Tribunal.
(3) An insolvency resolution process or bankruptcy proceeding of a personal guarantor of the corporate debtor pending in any court or tribunal shall stand transferred to the Adjudicating Authority dealing with insolvency resolution process or liquidation proceeding of such corporate debtor.
(4) The National Company Law Tribunal shall be vested with all the powers of the Debt Recovery Tribunal as contemplated under Part III of this Code for the purpose of sub-section (2).
(5) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law for the time being in force, the National Company Law Tribunal shall have jurisdiction to entertain or dispose of-
(a) any application or proceeding by or against the corporate debtor or corporate person;
(b) any claim made by or against the corporate debtor or corporate person, including claims by or against any of its subsidiaries situated in India; and
(c) any question of priorities or any question of law or facts, arising out of or in relation to the insolvency resolution or liquidation proceedings of the corporate debtor or corporate person under this Code.
(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Limitation Act, 1963 or in any other law for the time being in force, in computing the period of limitation specified for any suit or application by or against a corporate debtor for which an order of moratorium has been made under this Part, the period during which such moratorium is in place shall be excluded.
Meaning of Adjudicating Authority
For corporate persons under Part II of the IBC, the Adjudicating Authority is the National Company Law Tribunal. Section 60(1) connects territorial jurisdiction to the place where the registered office of the corporate person is located. This determines the appropriate NCLT bench for proceedings governed by the provision.
Corporate Debtor and Corporate Person
The IBC defines a corporate debtor as a corporate person that owes a debt to any person. The expression corporate person broadly covers a company, a limited liability partnership and other persons incorporated with limited liability under applicable law, subject to the statutory exclusions in the Code. These definitions are relevant because Section 60 governs insolvency resolution and liquidation jurisdiction for corporate persons.
Personal Guarantors and the Same NCLT
Sections 60(2) and 60(3) are designed to place proceedings concerning a corporate debtor and its personal guarantor before the same Adjudicating Authority when CIRP or liquidation of the corporate debtor is pending. A fresh application concerning the personal guarantor is filed before that NCLT, while an existing insolvency resolution or bankruptcy proceeding of the personal guarantor is transferred to it.
NCLT Powers Under Part III
For the purpose of Section 60(2), Section 60(4) vests the NCLT with the powers of the Debt Recovery Tribunal contemplated under Part III of the Code. This enables the NCLT to exercise the necessary statutory powers when dealing with insolvency resolution or bankruptcy proceedings of personal guarantors connected with a corporate debtor.
Connected Applications, Claims and Questions
Section 60(5) gives the NCLT jurisdiction over applications and proceedings by or against the corporate debtor or corporate person, claims by or against them including claims involving subsidiaries situated in India, and questions of priority, law or fact arising out of or in relation to insolvency resolution or liquidation under the Code.
The words "arising out of or in relation to" connect the jurisdiction to the insolvency or liquidation process. Whether a particular dispute falls within Section 60(5) depends on its statutory and factual connection with the IBC proceeding; the provision should not be read in isolation from the nature of the underlying dispute and other applicable laws.
Exclusion of Moratorium Period from Limitation
Section 60(6) protects limitation where an order of moratorium has been made under Part II. In computing the limitation period for a suit or application by or against the corporate debtor, the period during which the moratorium remains in force is excluded. This provision operates notwithstanding the Limitation Act, 1963 or any other law for the time being in force.
Section 60 and the Moratorium
The moratorium referred to in Section 60(6) should be read with the applicable moratorium provisions of the IBC, including Section 14 where relevant. The exclusion under Section 60(6) concerns computation of limitation and does not itself create or define the moratorium.
Current Legal Framework
Section 60 should be read with the current provisions governing corporate insolvency resolution, liquidation, voluntary liquidation and personal guarantors, together with the rules and regulations made under the Code. The 2026 amendments made substantial changes elsewhere in the IBC, so current proceedings should be checked against the latest consolidated statutory text and applicable commencement notifications.
Official Legal Resources
For the current IBC, amendments, commencement notifications, regulations and circulars, refer to the official Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India Legal Framework, IBBI Notifications, the National Company Law Tribunal and the Government of India's India Code.
This article is a general legal reference. The latest statutory text, commencement notifications, regulations, rules and binding judicial decisions should be checked for the date and facts relevant to a particular proceeding.