 "Go First")
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) told the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that they have responded to the Resolution Professional(RP) of Go First, pointing out the shortcomings in the special audit report of the insolvent airline’s revival proposal.
The division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula asked Advocate Anjana Gosain, appearing for the DGCA, to tell the court how long it will take for the airline’s operations to resume.
“If the DGCA is satisfied with the RP's response, it may take at least one week to 10 days for the airline to be given permission to restart its operations,” Gosain said.
The HC also disposed of the appeal by Go First's RP challenging the July 5 order of Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju that allowed lessors to access 30 aircraft for maintenance. The court has also allowed Go First to access the aircraft for routine maintenance which was earlier not allowed without the approval of the lessors.
“In the meantime, the appellant Go Air through and its RP shall be permitted to carry out regular maintenance of the aircraft parked at various airports, subject to a monthly inspection by the lessors,” the court said.
Also Read
The division bench of the High Court said parties can request Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju to decide the case expeditiously. This hearing is currently scheduled for August 3.
The court also directed the DGCA to proceed with the revival plan of Go First, taking into consideration the rights and contentions of the lessors. The court justified this direction based on the DGCA's stand that it would take at least 15 days to give permission for Go First to resume operations.
“In the considered opinion of this court, it will take a minimum of 15 days for the DGCA to grant approval for the resumption of flying operations of the appellant airline, therefore, the matter has to be heard and decided by the single judge,” the court said.
“The DGCA shall be free to proceed ahead with the application submitted by the appellant regarding the resumption of flying operations without prejudice,” the court added.
Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayyar, appearing for one of the lessors, said the question is whether the aircraft can fly between now and August 3. “My submission is that these aircraft can never fly. Moratorium only protects the status quo, it doesn't give additional rights. Which part of the insolvency process says I can renew rights? Go First cannot be allowed to fly from tomorrow," he said.
Meanwhile, Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for the Resolution Professional (RP), said that the single-judge order of HC has put a damper in the way of the airline’s revival plans. He said that there was no need for the lessors to approach the High Court when they had already moved the National Company Law Tribunal(NCLT) for relief. “Why are they moving a writ court when the matter is already pending before the NCLT?” he said.
Justice Ganju on July 5 in her interim order had said, “The respondent, Go Air, its directors, employees, agents, officers or representatives, or the Resolution Professionals or their representative as appointed by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Delhi, are hereby restrained from removing, replacing, taking out any part or component, etc or any relevant operational or other manual records, documentation from any of 30 aircraft except with prior written approval of lessor of such aircraft."
This led to a tussle between the lessors and the airline on whether the aircraft can be flown by the insolvent airline or not as per the revival plan.
The single-judge order had also said that 30 Aircraft are assets owned by the lessors which were previously under a contractual agreement(Lease Agreement(s)) with the corporate debtor(Go First). The court said Section 18 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code excludes assets owned by a third party under the definition of ‘assets’.
This meant that the Interim Resolution Professional(IRP) is not required to take control of the ‘assets’(the 30 aircraft in this case) under the provisions of the IBC. Go First RP had appealed against this order.
Go First stopped flying on May 3.
It operated around 200 flights daily before suspending operations. The airline has 54 aircraft, of which 28 are grounded due to engine woes. The airline has proposed to revive 22 aircraft and four are on standby in accordance with its plan.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal(NCLAT) had on May 22 upheld the NCLT's order of May 10 admitting Go First's insolvency plea.
