Limitations on the scope of inherent powers to condone delay

Saving provisions protecting the inherent powers of a tribunal, such as Regulation 44 of the Company Law Board Regulations, 1991, cannot be utilized to alter or bypass mandatory statutory time-limits prescribed for filing substantive appeals. Inherent powers are procedural in nature, designed to prevent abuse of process or secure the ends of justice during the pendency of proceedings, and cannot confer substantive jurisdiction or override explicit statutory limitation bars. There is no recognized inherent power in any court or tribunal to condone delay unless such power is expressly conferred by the controlling statute itself. (The Property Company (P) Ltd. v. Rohinten Daddy Mazda | 2026 INSC 33)