SpiceJet on Monday informed that it has made a payment of Rs 77.5 crore to media tycoon Kalanithi Maran and will complete the payment of Rs 100 crore by Tuesday as directed by the Delhi High Court. Earlier in the day, the Delhi HC asked the low-cost airline and its chairman Ajay Singh to pay the remaining money to Maran, chairman and founder of the Sun TV Network.
The airline, in a statement, said it will pay the remaining Rs 22.5 crore as per the directions of the Delhi HC. Spicejet said that it will also pay $1.5 million to Credit Suisse. "Till date, SpiceJet has already paid a total of $8 million to Credit Suisse," the airline said, adding that this liability is an old one and predates the current promoter taking over the company.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the airline to pay $1.5 million in a case related to unpaid dues to Credit Suisse by September 15. Credit Suisse and SpiceJet have been engaged in a legal dispute since 2015 over Credit Suisse's claim of unpaid dues of around $24 million, which led to the Madras High Court's order that the airline be wound up in 2021.
In July this year, a single judge bench upheld the award announced by the arbitration tribunal on July 20, 2018 in favour of Maran and his company Kal Airways. On July 31, the single judge upheld the award announced by the arbitration tribunal on July 20, 2018 in favour of Maran and his company Kal Airways in a share transfer dispute. SpiceJet moved the high court, which rejected the plea and asked the airline to complete the payment.
The case dates to January 2015, when Singh, who owned the airline earlier, bought it back from Maran after it was grounded for months due to a resource crunch. 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 along with Rs 1,500 crore debt liability.
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 high court in 2017, alleging SpiceJet had neither issued convertible warrants and preference shares nor returned the money.