SC dismisses KAL, Maran pleas against Delhi HC order in SpiceJet case
A Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and AS Chandurkar upheld the Delhi High Court's order of May 23.
The High Court refused to condone their delay in filing appeals under Section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 after concluding that they had been 'fence-sitting and were also guilty of deliberate and wilful concealment of facts from the court.'
'We find that on the basis of the material on record, the inference drawn by the Division Bench while refusing to condone the delay cannot be brushed away or that the conclusions drawn were without any basis. Hence, we are not inclined to interfere in exercise of jurisdiction under Article 136 of the Constitution. The special leave petitions are accordingly dismissed,' the order said.
Mr. Maran and KAL Airways were former promoters of SpiceJet. The High Court had, in its May 23 order, criticised the former promoter of taking a 'calculated gamble' by delaying the filing and re-filing of their appeals.
On May 17 last year, the Delhi High Court had quashed a Single Judge order of July 31, 2023 upholding an arbitral award asking SpiceJet and its promoter Ajay Singh to refund ₹579 crore plus interest to Mr. Maran.
The dispute between SpiceJet and Mr. Maran dates back to January 2015 when KAL Airways offered a 58.46% stake in SpiceJet to Mr. 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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