After the recent Judgement by Delhi High Court Division Bench ruling in favour of SpiceJet and Ajay Singh in the Share Transfer Case SpiceJet will seek a refund of INR 450 crore out of the INR 730 crore it has previously paid to former promoter Kalanithi Maran and his firm, KAL Airways.
SpiceJet announced through press releases that the Division Bench found that the Single Judge erred in dismissing Ajay Singh and SpiceJet’s Section 34 petitions without giving proper consideration to the claims of patent illegality and the refund order issued against SpiceJet despite KAL Airways and Kalanithi Maran’s acknowledged breaches.
The Division Bench of the Delhi High Court ruled on May 17 in favour of SpiceJet and its promoter, Ajay Singh, in the long-standing share transfer case against former promoter Kalanithi Maran and his firm, KAL Airways. This ruling overturns a previous decision by a single-judge bench, positioning SpiceJet to claim a substantial refund based on legal advice.
A total of Rs 730 crore has been paid by SpiceJet to Maran and KAL Airways, including Rs 150 crore in interest and Rs 580 crore in principal. As announced in its press releases, SpiceJet is expected to get a refund of INR 450 crore following the setting aside of the contested ruling.
The appeal brought forth by SpiceJet and Ajay Singh challenged several critical issues related to the award of refund and the justification of interest in the case. The Division Bench found substantial merit in these challenges, noting that they were not adequately addressed in the previous order dated July 31, 2023.
The Court further observed that even though SpiceJet had not broken any terms of the Share Purchase Agreement, interest in the amount of penal interest had been assessed. The sole judge did not take these factors into consideration; as a result, the impugned judgment dated July 31, 2023, was set aside and Ajay Singh and SpiceJet’s appeals were granted.
On May 17, the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court granted the appeal filed by SpiceJet and its Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), Ajay Singh, against the single bench ruling that required SpiceJet to reimburse Sun Group promoter Kalanithi Maran and Kal Airways for more than Rs 270 crore.
Division Bench, comprising Justice Yashwant Varma and Justice Ravinder Dudeja, set-aside the single bench order passed in July last year and affirmed the Arbitral Award dated July 20, 2018, passed by an Arbitral Tribunal comprising three retired Supreme Court Judges.