Kalanithi Maran, KAL Airways rejects Rs 600 crore offer by SpiceJet, SC told

Kalanithi Maran and KAL Airways on Monday told the Supreme Court that SpiceJet's offer of Rs 600 crore towards full and final settlement of share transfer dispute was not acceptable since per the arbitral award the airline has to pay them 920 crores.

Senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing KAL Airways, submitted before a bench presided over by Chief Justice N V Ramana that it is not possible for his clients to consider the offer proposed by SpiceJet airlines.

He asked the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli, to list the matter for arguments on the next date of hearing.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing SpiceJet airlines, for his part, asked the bench to hear the matter within two weeks.

The top court put matter for further hearing on March 2.

On February 10, the Supreme Court asked Kalanithi Maran, the former promoter of SpiceJet, to consider the full and final settlement offer made by SpiceJet to end the dispute in a share transfer matter.

In a statement, SpiceJet said it had offered to pay Rs 600 crore in cash in the share transfer case with its former promoter Kalanithi Maran and his firm KAL Airways for a full and final settlement of all disputes. Out of the principal amount of Rs 578 crore awarded in arbitration, SpiceJet has already paid Rs 308 crore in cash and deposited a bank guarantee of Rs.270 crore.

Maran and his firm, KAL Airways, had asked the court to lift the stay on a Delhi High Court order asking the low-cost airline to deposit Rs 243 crore as interest on the amount of Rs 579 crore in the dispute. In November 2020, the top court stayed the High Court order.

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