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Informist, Tuesday, May 19, 2026

 

--SC to HC:Decide SpiceJet plea to give title deed in Maran arbitration case 

--SC to HC: Decide on basis of govt emergency credit lifeline to airlines 

--CONTEXT: SpiceJet has to deposit INR 1.45 bln in Maran arbitration case 

--CONTEXT: SpiceJet sought to offer title deed instead of money deposit 

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the Delhi High Court to decide SpiceJet Ltd.'s plea seeking to submit a title deed of an immovable property with the court's registry instead of depositing INR 1.45 billion, or give three more months to deposit the amount in an arbitration dispute with Sun Group Founder Kalanithi Maran and KAL Airways Pvt. Ltd. The apex court said that the high court should decide SpiceJet's plea on the basis of the subsequent development where the government has extended an emergency credit programme of about INR 40 billion to the airlines to partly cushion them from the severe operational turmoil caused by the recent West Asia conflict. The top court said that the high court also has to take into consideration the fact that SpicJet's challenge to the arbitral award in favour of Maran was pending adjudication. 

 

Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for SpiceJet, said that if the request for title deed or extension is not accepted, the airline will have to close down. There are only three airlines left with SpiceJet being the smallest of the lot, said Rohatgi, adding that private interest must yield to public interest sometimes.

 

SpiceJet was challenging the Delhi High Court's May 4 and Mar. 18 orders which rejected the airline's request and imposed a cost of INR 50,000 for filing the petitions. SpiceJet said it was facing a liquidity crunch currently as various flights to the Gulf region had been cancelled due to the recent West Asia conflict. "We have suffered losses, have a liquidity issue...," the airline said.

 

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. On SpiceJet's argument that the immovable property was valued at INR 1.48 billion, Maran and KAL Airways said the property was not unencumbered and mortgaged by the airline on a loan from IDFC FIRST Bank Ltd. 

  

In February 2015, 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 rejected Maran and KAL Airways' claim of damages worth INR 13.23 billion against SpiceJet for not issuing warrants to the petitioners. However, the tribunal awarded a refund of INR 5.79 billion, along with interest, to be paid by SpiceJet to Maran and KAL Airways. Thereafter, both parties moved the Delhi High Court's single-judge bench, which upheld the award in 2023. When the case reached the division bench, it 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 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 three years after the order, the court noted. Upholding the high court's order, the apex court in a previous batch of plea in February had questioned SpiceJet how it would justify not paying the amount ordered by it. The bench of Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe had then further directed SpiceJet to pay a fine of INR 100,000 for filing the current appeal and not paying the previously ordered amount.

 

At 1227 IST, the shares of SpiceJet Ltd. were up 5.0% at INR 12.71 on the BSE.  End

 

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

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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