Kalanithi Maran and his company KAL Airways on Monday (May 27) said that they would challenge the recent Delhi High Court judgement and demand damages from SpiceJet and its CEO, Ajay Singh, of more than Rs 1,323 crore. “In parallel, they are also seeking damages in excess of Rs 1,323 crore, as determined by FTI Consulting LLP, United Kingdom, a globally renowned firm that specialises in estimation of losses arising out of breach of contractual commitments,” KAL Airways said in a statement on Monday.
The case dates back to early 2015, when Singh, who owned the airline earlier, bought it back from Maran after it was grounded for months due to resource crunch.
Further, it said the claim for damages had originally been presented by KAL Airways and Maran before the arbitral tribunal and “has always remained an integral part of their quest for justice”.
A division bench of the court overturned a single judge bench ruling that had maintained an arbitral verdict on May 17, demanding that SpiceJet and its promoter, Ajay Singh, reimburse Maran with Rs 579 crore plus interest. The bench granted Singh and SpiceJet’s appeals, passed on July 31, 2023, challenging the judgement of a single judge and remanded the case to that court so that the petitions contesting the arbitral award could be considered again.
In light of this, Maran and his company, KAL Airways, have chosen, on legal advice, to appeal the decision. The decree holders, KAL Airways and Maran, “believe that the aforesaid judgement is deeply flawed and warrants further scrutiny”.
What does the statement say?
As per the statement, SpiceJet’s betrayal of trust gave rise to the dispute, which has caused “enormous hardship to both KAL Airways and Kalanithi Maran for more than a decade”.
The decree holders want to obtain a fair and just settlement to the acrimonious dispute by pursuing both the appeal of the Delhi High Court ruling and the damages claim. They will pursue the execution of the arbitral award, seeking a refund of the pending dues amounting to Rs 353.50 crore. “This action is also in full compliance with, and supported by, the orders dated February 13, 2023, and July 7, 2023, passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court directing that the award in favour of the decree holders is executed in its entirety,” it said.
What happened?
On May 22, SpiceJet said it will seek a refund of Rs 450 crore out of the total Rs 730 crore paid to the airline’s former promoter Maran and KAL Airways following the Delhi High Court ruling.
As part of the agreement, Maran and KAL Airways had claimed to have paid SpiceJet Rs 679 crore for issuing warrants and preference shares. However, Maran approached the Delhi High Court in 2017, alleging SpiceJet had not issued convertible warrants and preference shares nor returned the money.
(with PTI inputs)