Delhi High Court Orders SpiceJet, Ajay Singh To Pay Rs 100 Crore To Kalanithi Maran

The Delhi High Court on Thursday ordered SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh to pay Rs 100 crore to former promoter Kalanithi Maran by Sept. 10.

The court highlighted that the payment has to be made to show Singh’s bona fide intention towards settling dues with the Marans.

Previously, the court had directed Singh to pay the full amount of Rs 380 crore to Kalanithi Maran and ordered the airline to submit an affidavit of its assets within four weeks. However, after failing to do both, Singh was asked to be physically present for all hearings.

Amit Sibal, appearing for SpiceJet and Singh, submitted that the airline is going through a fund crunch, due to which it has been unable to pay the arbitral award upheld in favour of the Marans. If, due to these financial constraints, the airline becomes insolvent, it would not benefit the Marans, Sibal said.

However, the bench only remained focused on how they were going to repay their dues to Marans and, accordingly, directed them to pay Rs 100 crore by Sept. 10.

SpiceJet will honour the Delhi High Court’s order and make the specified payment within the prescribed time frame, a spokesperson of the airline said.

Earlier in the morning, a division bench of the Delhi High Court dismissed SpiceJet's plea for a stay on the single-judge bench's refusal to waive interest on the arbitral award owed to Kalanithi Maran of Kal Airways Pvt.

The division bench clarified that it is unable to provide a stay on the single judge's ruling, given that the Supreme Court had already declined SpiceJet's appeal to extend the timeline for fulfilling the payment obligations in February.

The dispute in the matter stems from the 2015 pact involving Maran and SpiceJet's promoter, Ajay Singh. Maran, affiliated with Sun Network and Kal Airways, transferred their 58.46% stake in SpiceJet to Singh.

The arrangement included provisions for Maran and Kal Airways to receive warrants and preference shares, which were not issued.

In 2018, an arbitral tribunal granted Maran a reimbursement of Rs 579 crore, along with interest. In the course of executing these rulings, the high court directed the airline to deposit approximately Rs 243 crore as a means of securing the interest on the awarded sum.

The matter will next be heard on Sept. 11.