NEW DELHI: In a major relief for the current promoters of budget airline SpiceJet, the Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by Kalanithi Maran and KAL Airways challenging a Delhi High Court order that had rejected their claim seeking Rs 1,323 crore in damages from SpiceJet.
The top court passed the order in a special leave petition, wherein the division bench dismissed their plea on the grounds of delay.
Kalanithi Maran, media baron and former owner of SpiceJet, and KAL Airways earlier this month moved Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court's May order that dismissed their pleas seeking Rs 1,323 crore in damages from SpiceJet.
This fresh ruling is likely to be the final hearing in the long contested legal battle between the current and former promoters of the budget airline. Earlier, an arbitral tribunal had also rejected KAL Airways Rs 1,323 crore damages claim against the airline.
In May Delhi High Court had dismissed KAL Airways and businessman Maran’s appeal seeking over Rs 1,300 crore in damages from SpiceJet. The Delhi High Court had accused Maran of engaging in "calculated gamble" and cited "deliberate and wilful concealment of facts."
The dispute between the two parties dates back to February 2015 when Maran and KAL Airways had transferred their 58.46% stake in SpiceJet to Ajay Singh for Rs 2. Under the agreement, KAL and Maran were to receive redeemable warrants and preference share in return for the Rs 679 crore which they spent on SpiceJet.
In 2017, Maran approached Delhi HC and claimed that neither the convertible warrants and preference shares were issued nor the money was returned. An arbitration panel in 2018 rejected Maran’s claim of damages of Rs 1,323 crore for not issuing warrants to him and KAL Airways, but awarded him a refund of Rs 579 crore with interest component. Since then, the case has appeared several times in Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court.
In May 2024, SpiceJet said that it strongly refutes the claims made by KAL Airways and Kalanithi Maran regarding seeking damages of Rs 1323 crore.