The court had ordered Singh and SpiceJet to pay Maran Rs 100 crore by September 10 on August 24.
Ajay Singh, the chairman and managing director (CMD) of low-cost carrier SpiceJet, has been given until September 12 by the Delhi High Court to make the final payment towards a Rs 100 crore arbitral award to media mogul Kalanithi Maran.
After Singh’s attorney informed the court that they had paid Maran Rs 62.5 crore and were in possession of a cheque for Rs 37.5 crore made out in Maran’s name, the instructions were given on September 11.
Maninder Singh, the attorney for Maran, said that although they had until September 11 to complete the payment, they had postponed it. He argued that the opposing parties were repeat offenders because they had previously disobeyed Supreme Court and High Court orders. He further said that SpiceJet and Ajay Singh don’t deserve a right to be heard because they haven’t complied.
According to Singh’s attorney Amit Sibal, since September 10 was a Sunday, they should have been given an extra day to complete the payment because the remaining funds could not be placed due to the bank holiday.
Singh and SpiceJet were ordered by the court to make the outstanding payment by September 12th.
On October 3, the matter will now be heard.
On August 24, the court ordered Singh, who was in attendance, and the firm to pay Rs 100 crore to Maran as bona fide by September 10 and issued a warning that failing to do so could result in the court seizing Spicejet’s profits from the previous quarter.
Maran filed an application claiming SpiceJet has not submitted an affidavit outlining assets and liabilities despite being requested to do so in 2020, and Singh was then summoned to appear in person.
Maran claimed that as of August 3, SpiceJet owed him Rs 393 crore and requested the attachment of 50% of SpiceJet’s daily earnings in order to satisfy the debt.
Authenticity of the arbitral decision
On July 31, a high court judge who was hearing the case maintained the validity of the arbitral award, which was under challenge. Before a division bench of the court, SpiceJet and Singh contested the order.
On July 7, the Supreme Court declared the award enforceable, finding that SpiceJet had broken the deadline it had established in February for making specific payments to Maran.
The top court concluded the matter by ordering that SpiceJet’s bank guarantee for Rs 270 crore be cashed and requiring the airline to pay Rs 75 crore in interest within three months.
Arbitral Award
Singh acquired the approximately Rs 1,500 crore in liabilities of SpiceJet in February 2015 after Maran and KAL Airways, his investment entity, surrendered their 58.46 percent ownership of the airline to Singh.
Maran and Kal Airways claimed they paid SpiceJet Rs 679 crore as per the agreement for issuing warrants and preference shares. Maran filed arbitration claims against SpiceJet and Singh on the grounds that the warrants and preference shares had not been distributed.
Maran sought damages of Rs 1,323 crore from an arbitration panel in July 2018, but it denied his request and instead gave him a return of Rs 579 crore plus interest. SpiceJet was allowed to deposit the remaining amount of Rs 250 crore in cash and provide a bank guarantee for Rs 329 crore.
