The Delhi High Court on Tuesday rejected SpiceJet Ltd’s plea to submit a property title deed instead of depositing Rs 144 crore in a share transfer dispute with the airline’s former promoters Kalanithi Maran and KAL Airways.
The dispute relates to a share transfer between Singh and Maran. In February 2015, Maran and his company, KAL Airways, transferred their 58.46% stake in the airline to Singh.
In 2017, Maran and KAL Airways approached the high court seeking transfer of 180 million warrants redeemable as equity shares. The court on July 29, 2016 directed the parties to resolve the dispute through arbitration.
On July 20, 2018, the arbitral tribunal rejected Maran’s claim for Rs 1,323 crore in damages for not issuing warrants to him and KAL Airways, but awarded a refund of Rs 579 crore with interest.
Maran moved the HC against the decision of the arbitration tribunal, which had rejected his claim for damages as well as his bid to regain control of the airline. The court directed SpiceJet and Singh to deposit Rs 579 crore, allowing a bank guarantee for Rs 329 crore and a cash deposit of Rs 250 crore.
The airline instead reiterated its proposal to offer an “unencumbered” one-acre land parcel worth Rs 400-500 crore in Udyog Vihar, Gurugram, as security.