NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has ordered SpiceJet to deposit Rs 242.93 crore within six weeks to former promoter Kalanithi Maran of Sun Group, and his KAL Airways.
The case relates to the dispute arising out of non-issuance of warrants and preference shares in favour of
Maran, who had transferred the ownership of SpiceJet in 2015 to Ajay Singh, the current promoter and co-founder of the Delhi-based low-cost airline.
The aforesaid amount is the interest payout on Rs 579 crore which the High Court in 2017 had asked SpiceJet to deposit. SpiceJet’s current promoter Ajay Singh had deposited the amount.
The fresh blow for SpiceJet and Singh comes at a time when the entire aviation industry is hit hard by the
global Covid-19 pandemic.
A failure to comply with the order would allow Maran to seek status quo on the company’s shareholding. This means SpiceJet won’t be able raise new capital from the market through issuance of fresh shares or stake sale. “Judgement Debtor (in this case SpiceJet and promoter Ajay Singh) is hereby directed to deposit a sum of Rs 242.93 crore as post-award interest sum within a period of six weeks. In the event the amount is not deposited, the Decree Holder (in this case Kalanithi Maran and his firm KAL Airways) shall be at liberty to seek directions to maintain status quo with respect to shareholding of SpiceJet Limited and Ajay Singh,” the Delhi HC said in a order. When contacted, a SpiceJet spokesperson said that the company is reviewing the Court order.
Maran and KAL Airways had transferred their 58.46 per cent stake in SpiceJet to Singh for Rs 2 in February 2015, after the airline’s operations were upended by a severe cash shortage. Under the agreement, KAL Airways 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.