In the matter of Kal Airways Pvt. Ltd. vs. M/s Spicejet Ltd. & Anr. before the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi, a bench presided by the Hon’ble Justice Mr. Yogesh Khanna recently issued an order in the execution petition filed by Kal Airways Pvt. Ltd. The order rejected the claims of Spicejet and directed them to pay the entire arbitral award to Kal Airways Pvt. Ltd. The court also instructed Spicejet to file an Affidavit of Assets within a specified time frame.

The Matter was listed on 29.05.2023 before the Hon’ble Delhi High Court wherein Mr. Maninder Singh, Ld. Sr. Adv. instructed by Ms. Nandini Gore- Senior Partner, Ms. Sonia Nigam- Principal Associate, Mr. Yash Dubey & Mr. Yashwant Gaggar associates from Karanjawala & Co. appeared on behalf of the Kal Airways, and Mr. Sandeep Sethi, Ld. Sr. Adv. Along with Mr. Abhinav Sharma, advocate appeared in behalf of the Spicejet Limited.

The learned Senior Advocate representing Kal Airways argued that Spicejet had failed to comply with the Order dated 4th November 2020, issued by the Honorable Delhi High Court, by not filing the affidavit of assets. Additionally, Spicejet was directed to pay an amount of Rs. 242,93,70,845.56/- within three weeks from order passed by Hon’ble Delhi High Court on 2nd September 2020. Spicejet sought to modify this order, but their application was rejected. They then challenged these orders before the Honorable Apex Court, which directed them, through an Order dated 13th February 2023, to encash the bank guarantee and pay the specified amount directly to Kal Airways. Despite the intervention of the Honorable Apex Court, Spicejet was also required to pay an additional amount of Rs. 75 crores to Kal Airways within three months, representing the liability for interest.

Mr. Maninder Singh, the learned Senior Counsel, further argued that the amount of Rs. 75 crores had not been deposited yet, resulting in an increased interest liability of Rs. 380 crores. Therefore, the decree holder insisted on compliance with the order passed by the Honorable Apex Court.

Mr. Sethi, the learned Senior Counsel representing Spicejet, stated that Spicejet had already paid a principal amount of Rs. 579.08 crores and had applied to the Honorable Apex Court for a three-month extension to make the payment of Rs. 75 crores specifically for the interest. Mr. Sethi requested that the Honorable Single Judge refrain from directing the judgment debtor to deposit the remaining balance.

Mr. Singh argued that the timeline for the payment of the interest amount had already been determined by the Honorable Supreme Court, and thus the Honorable Single Judge had no authority to extend the time limit.

The Hon’ble Court observed that the arguments of the decree holder appears plausible as admittedly there is no modification of order dated 13.02.2023 passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, hence it need to be followed. Since the judgment debtor had failed to pay an amount of Rs.75.00 crores to decree holder, hence in terms of para 15(ii) of the order dated 13.02.2023 of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, there is no other alternative except to call upon the judgment debtors to deposit the entire outstanding amount qua interest forthwith.