The Supreme Court on Thursday asked Sun TV founder Kalanithi Maran to consider an offer by SpiceJet to settle all ongoing disputes with it and pending proceedings with a payment of Rs 600 crore by the latter.
The matter was listed before the Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, and Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hima Kohli upon an application filed by Maran seeking to vacate its interim order when it had stayed a Delhi High Court order directing SpiceJet to deposit Rs 243 crore in view of the winding up order against SpiceJet.
Kalanithi Maran and his KAL Airways moved the Supreme Court to lift the stay on the Delhi High Court order by which it had directed the SpiceJet to deposit Rs 243 crore as interest on Rs 579 crore in the dispute between the two. In view of the recent winding up order against the SpiceJet, the media baron and his KAL Airways sought directions for payment of the decreed amount.
During the hearing today, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for SpiceJet, submitted that the principal amount is Rs 579 crore, of which Rs 308 crore was already paid in cash. The only issue is the rate of interest. “I made a suggestion to milord that Rs 579 crore is the principal amount and Rs 270 crore secured under bank guarantee. The airline is willing to convert the bank guarantee to cash and pay out an additional Rs 22 crore to Maran.”
The CJI has asked the Senior Counsel Maninder Singh appearing for Kalanithi Maran and his firm KAL Airways to discuss it with his clients. The Court will hear the matter next week.
The High Court in September 2020, had directed SpiceJet to deposit the amount with the High Court Registry within a period of 6 weeks. When SpiceJet failed to comply with the High Court’s order, Kalanithi Maran and KAL Airways filed a plea before the Delhi High Court seeking attachment of Ajay Singh’s shareholding in SpiceJet.
KAL has previously also sought the appointment of a director to take over the management of SpiceJet. Subsequent to the High Court’s order, the Supreme Court granted an interim stay on the High Court’s order.
In 2015, Maran and KAL transferred 58.46 percent stake in Spicejet to Ajay Singh when the airline was suffering from severe cash shortages. Maran and KAL claimed they had paid Rs 679 crore to SpiceJet in exchange of warrants and preference shares.