MUMBAI: The Delhi High Court dismissed KAL Airways and businessman Kalanithi Maran’s appeal seeking over Rs 1,300 crore in damages from SpiceJet. The appeal was previously rejected by an Arbitral Tribunal and later by a Single-Judge Bench of the High Court.
“These assertions were already previously rejected by the Arbitral Tribunal and then the Delhi High Court. It is important to clarify that KAL Airways and Kalanithi Maran initially sought damages of more than Rs 1300 crore during the arbitration proceedings. These claims were thoroughly examined and subsequently rejected by a panel of three retired Supreme Court judges,” said SpiceJet on Monday.
Following this, KAL Airways and Kalanithi Maran appealed to the Single-Judge Bench of the Delhi High Court, seeking the same amount in damages, which was also rejected by the court, added SpiceJet. The ruling, dated May 23, 2025, was disclosed by the airline in a regulatory filing on Monday.
The dispute between the two parties date back to February 2015 when Maran and KAL Airways had transferred their 58.46% stake in SpiceJet to Singh for Rs 2.
Under the agreement, KAL and Maran were to receive redeemable warrants and preference shares 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 nor the preference shares were issued, nor was the money 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 an interest component. Since then, the case has appeared several times in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court.
In May 2024, SpiceJet said that it strongly refute the claims made by KAL Airways and Kalanithi Maran regarding seeking damages of Rs 1323 crore.
The statement by SpiceJet came after media baron Maran and his KAL Airways said that they would seek more than Rs 1,323 crore in damages from SpiceJet and its chief Ajay Singh. Maran and KAL had challenged Delhi High Court order, which was in favour of SpiceJet.