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Informist, Monday, May 4, 2026

 

--HC nixes SpiceJet offer to give title deed instead of money in Maran case 

--CONTEXT: SpiceJet filed review plea against HC Mar 18 order to give money

 

NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court Monday rejected SpiceJet Ltd.'s review plea seeking to submit a title deed of an immovable property with the court's registry instead of depositing INR 1.45 billion in an arbitration dispute with Sun Group Founder Kalanithi Maran and KAL Airways Pvt. Ltd. SpiceJet had filed the review plea against the court's Mar. 18 order to deposit the amount instead of title deed. The high court imposed a cost of INR 50,000 for filing the current petition. 

 

Earlier, Maran and KAL Airways had argued that SpiceJet owed over INR 4 billion, including interest, far higher than the INR 1.45 billion figure cited by the cash-strapped airline. Maran and KAL Airways had said the interest was not being calculated properly in SpiceJet's books.

 

SpiceJet said it is facing a liquidity crunch currently as various flights to the Gulf have been cancelled due to the recent West Asia conflict. "We have suffered losses, have a liquidity issue...," the airline said in an application to the court. SpiceJet said the immovable property is valued at INR 1.48 billion. Opposing this, Maran and KAL Airways said that the property was not unencumbered and it was mortgaged by the airline from a loan by IDFC FIRST Bank Ltd. 

 

Earlier, Justice Subramonium Prasad had remarked that if the Supreme Court had refused to interfere with the high court order asking the airline to deposit the money, why should he now permit SpiceJet to submit the title deed. "Once the Supreme Court has chosen not to interfere, then why should I allow it?" said Justice Prasad.

 

The case dates back to February 2015, when Maran and KAL Airways transferred their entire 58.46% stake in SpiceJet to co-founder Ajay Singh. Maran later moved the high court accusing SpiceJet and Singh of breaching their agreement by failing to issue him 189 million share warrants and preference shares. KAL Airways is controlled by Maran. Following the dispute between the parties, the issue was referred to an arbitral tribunal by the high court.

 

In 2018, an arbitral tribunal had rejected Maran and KAL Airways' claim of damages worth INR 13.23 billion against SpiceJet for not issuing warrants to the petitioners. However, the arbitral tribunal awarded a refund of INR 5.79 billion with interest to be payable by SpiceJet to Maran and KAL Airways. Thereafter, both the parties moved the Delhi High Court's single-judge bench, which upheld the award in 2023. When the case reached the division bench, the latter found merit in SpiceJet's contention and remanded the matter back to the single-judge bench for fresh consideration.

 

In January, the high court had said that in 2023, the top court had asked SpiceJet to encash its bank guarantee and pay it to Maran and KAL Airways against the principal sum on a 2018 arbitral award and INR 750 million for the remaining interest. However, SpiceJet had failed to fulfil its obligations even after three years of the top court's order, the high court had said. Upholding the high court's order, the apex court questioned SpiceJet how it will justify not paying the amount ordered by it. The bench of Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe further directed SpiceJet to pay a fine of INR 100,000 for filing the current appeal and not paying the previously ordered amount.

 

At 1127 IST, the shares of SpiceJet Ltd. were down 0.4% at INR 13.31 on the BSE.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Vandana Hingorani

 

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