2023-07-31 16:26:45
The Delhi High Court, on July 31, rejected the domestic airline’s plea to waive interest on the arbitral award owed to Kalanithi Maran of KAL Airways in the ongoing SpiceJet dispute.
SpiceJet CEO, Ajay Singh, had challenged the arbitral award in 2018, but the high court set aside his plea and upheld the 2018 arbitral award, along with the interest burden imposed on the airline by the arbitral tribunal. The tribunal had ruled in favour of Maran, granting him an award of ₹579 crore, plus accrued interest.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court disapproved when SpiceJet failed to comply with a court order to pay Kalanithi Maran ₹75 crore. This amount was part of the ₹380 crore arbitral award Maran claimed from the airline. Consequently, the apex court ordered SpiceJet to pay the entire arbitral amount in a single payment, emphasizing the need for commercial morality in conducting business.
The Delhi High Court, in its latest order, stated that there was no reason to intervene with the arbitral award and decided to uphold the tribunal’s decision.
The dispute between SpiceJet and Kalanithi Maran dates back to January 2015 when KAL Airways offered a 58.46 per cent stake in SpiceJet to Ajay Singh, the principal shareholder, chairman, and managing director of the airline, at a meagre price of ₹2 per share due to the airline’s financial troubles.
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