Kingfisher Airlines was
severely rebuked by a metropolitan magistrate in a
case of cheque bounce in Mumbai on Friday. The top management of Kingfisher has been asked to be present in the court for the next hearing on August 9.
Already reeling under financial crunch, the Vijay Mallyaowned airline's postdated cheque, of Rs 30 crore, paid to the Mumbai International Airport Limited, had bounced.
The Andheri metropolitan magistrate's court issued summons to the carrier's chief finance officer and the chief executive officer o be present in the next hearing.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) had dragged the airline to court in June after it ignored constant reminders about clearing its dues to the airport. Kingfisher had issued postdated cheques to the airport authorities that bounced. The payments pertain to landing, parking and other charges.
Kingfisher faces the risk of having its operations suspended if it fails to clear the dues. Sources in CSIA said that the airline has outstanding dues of Rs 60 crore to the Mumbai airport, a joint administration of infrastructure firm GVK and the Airport Authority of India (AAI).
Kingfisher, which is reeling under losses of around Rs 4,000 crore, owes large dues to AAI as well. The Delhi International Airport Limited had also filed a case of cheque bouncing amount of Rs 3 crore against the carrier.
Sources said that Kingfisher had cleared dues worth Rs 20 crore in August 2010 and promised to clear the balance. Earlier this month, Mallya had said that many have expressed interest in investing in his debtridden airline.
The foreign direct investment policy allows foreign investors to pick up 49-per cent stake in domestic airlines but foreign airlines are not permitted.
Courtesy: Mail Today
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