Delhi HC dismisses Rs 1,300 cr damages appeal by Kalanithi Maran & KAL Airways against SpiceJet

Economic Times

26-05-2025

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A Division Bench of Delhi High Court has dismissed the appeal filed by KAL Airways and businessman Kalanithi Maran seeking damages of more than Rs 1,300 crore from SpiceJet , said the low-cost airline in a statement. These assertions were already previously rejected by the Arbitral Tribunal and then the Delhi High Court.KAL Airways and Kalanithi Maran initially sought damages of more than Rs 1,300 crore during the arbitration proceedings. These claims were thoroughly examined and subsequently rejected by a panel of three retired Supreme Court judges. Following this, KAL Airways and Kalanithi Maran appealed to the Single-Judge Bench of the Delhi High Court, seeking the same amount in damages, which was also rejected by the court.The incident dates back to January 2015, when Singh, the previous owner of the airline, repurchased it from Maran following a prolonged grounding due to financial constraints. The tribunal ruled that Maran owed Singh and the airline Rs 29 crore in penal interest, while Singh was instructed to reimburse Maran Rs 579 crore along with interest.Established in 2016 as per the Delhi High Court's directive to settle the share transfer dispute, the tribunal determined that there was no violation of the share sale and purchase agreement made between Maran and the current promoter Singh in late January 2015.The tribunal rejected Maran's appeal for damages of Rs 1,323 crore from SpiceJet.In February 2015, Maran of the Sun Network and Kal Airways, his investment vehicle, had transferred their 58.46 per cent stake in SpiceJet to Singh for Rs 2 (Rs two only) along with Rs 1,500 crore debt liability, after the airline was grounded due to a severe cash crunch.Singh was the first co-founder of the airline and is now its chairman and managing director.As part of the agreement, Maran and Kal Airways had claimed to have paid Spicejet Rs 679 crore for issuing warrants and preference shares.However, Maran approached the Delhi High Court in 2017, alleging SpiceJet had neither issued convertible warrants and preference shares nor returned the money.After today's development, the shares of SpiceJet were trading at Rs 44.97 a piece on the BSE, up by 2.60 per cent as of 10:55 am on Monday.