The Kalrock Capital-Murari Lal Jalan consortium (JKC), who are attempting to take over Jet Airways (Mumbai International), went back to court last week in another attempt to resolve a further hurdle preventing it from finalising the takeover process.
JKC went to India's Supreme Court on January 19, 2023, to ask it to overturn a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) decision requiring it to pay INR2.5 billion rupees (USD30.9 million dollars) in provident fund and gratuity dues owed to former Jet Airways employees.
As reported in India's Economic Times, Avinash B Amarnath, appearing for Jet Airways, told the Supreme Court that the October 2022 NCLAT decision was outside the scope of the original June 2021 NCLT-approved resolution plan that would see ownership transfer to the consortium in exchange for certain payments being made on a fixed timeline. In the June 2021 settlement, it was agreed JKC would pay INR4.75 billion (USD58.7 million) towards Jet Airway's liabilities, with INR520 million (USD6.42 million) to be directed towards settling liabilities owed to former employees.
As the Jet Airways take over process drags on, JKC enjoyed a legal win recently, with the NCLT reaffirming the ownership transfer to them and setting a new timeline to do this in. This followed a consortium of lenders, led by the State Bank of India (the creditors must certify the ownership transfer), refusing to do so amid a long-running dispute with JKC over agreed payments and the schedules to make those payments. That win was partially offset by a Mumbai local government order last week authorizing the seizure of four Jet Airways aircraft parked at Mumbai International Airport over unpaid land taxes.
In the same eventful week, Amarnath was asking the Supreme Court to overturn the additional NCLAT Jet Airways payment order, arguing it was outside the ambit of the original 2021 approved resolution plan and unlawful. The court has reserved its decision.
