The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) reserved its order on May 15 regarding the petitions filed by three aircraft lessors against Go First’s voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings. These three lessors are SFV Aircraft Holdings, SMBC Aviation Capital Ltd, and GY Aviation Lease Court Ltd. The NCLAT heard the appeal today and reserved the order for May 22.
For those unaware, the lessors’ petition is seeking a stay on a bankruptcy court order which accepted the voluntary insolvency of the low-cost airline. The NCLAT had previously on Friday, i.e., on May 12, deferred this matter to May 15.
After completing the hearing on the petitions, the bench headed by Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan reserved its order and asked the parties to submit any additional documents in the next 48 hours.
NCLT’s approach to Go First’s voluntary insolvency
The NCLT had on May 10 accepted Go First‘s voluntary insolvency plea and accepted the initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) proceedings. Go First was granted protection under a moratorium from recovery by lessors and lenders.
The NCLT had also appointed interim resolution professional Abhilash Lal to look after all the affairs of Go First. The board was also suspended as part of the insolvency process.
Go First had stopped flying from May 3. All three lessors had leased out around 21 aircrafts to the airline. In this month, many lessors have approached the DGCA for deregistration and repossession of Go First’s 45 planes.
(With PTI Inputs)