The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed SpiceJet’s appeal in connection with a share transfer dispute with its previous owner Kalanithi Maran and directed the airline to pay him Rs 579 crore, reported Business Standard. SpiceJet has been asked to deposit Rs 250 crore in cash and Rs 329 crore in bank guarantees.
A bench headed by justice Rohinton F Nariman upheld the July 3 order of the Delhi High Court. “It was virtually a consent order passed by the Delhi high court,” Abhishek Manu Singhvi, counsel for Kalanithi Maran and Kal Airways, told the apex court. “I am without a penny from the last two years. They have shown the amount as payable under their balance sheet.”
On July 3, the Delhi High Court had directed the budget airline to deposit the Rs 579 crore with Maran.
The order had been pronounced against SpiceJet in July last year, when the High Court had directed the company to pay the amount in instalments within 12 months. However, SpiceJet chief Ajay Singh had challenged the ruling, arguing that a single bench did not have jurisdiction over the case.
Maran has accused SpiceJet of not issuing share warrants in favour of the budget airline after its ownership was transferred to Ajay Singh in February 2015.
Maran’s company had sold their 350.4 million equity shares (58.46% stake) in the airline to SpiceJet co-founder Singh, making him the controlling shareholder of the company. In his plea, Maran had also asked for a refund of the Rs 690 crore his company had paid as operating costs and to repay debts for SpiceJet when the ownership was transferred.
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