 "Jet Airways")
The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday dismissed a plea by Jalan Kalrock Consortium (JKC), the successful bidder for Jet Airways, seeking a seven-day extension of the deadline to pay Rs 150 crore.
The plea also sought the court’s intervention to instruct lenders to release the existing bank guarantee of Rs 150 crore and allow JKC to replace it with a new one. Calling the plea misconceived, the SC refused to interfere with its January 18 order asking JKC to deposit Rs 150 crore in two weeks in the escrow account of the State Bank of India as part of the resolution plan.
The apex court, then, setting aside the order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) of August 2023, said the amount is to be deposited before January 31, failing which, it will be non-compliant with the resolution plan to take over Jet Airways.
"The question of adjustment of Rs150 crore (through bank guarantee), we will keep it with the NCLAT. You (JKC) have to (pay)," the apex court had said.
JKC was supposed to pay Rs 350 crore as part of the first payment. It had deposited Rs 100 crore by August 31, 2023, and another Rs 100 crore by the end of September 2023. The lenders in the NCLAT had questioned the source of the money and said it was non-compliant with the resolution plan.
The Consortium also said since it has already pledged a bank guarantee of Rs150 crore, this could be invoked by the lenders. However, the lenders had argued that the bank guarantee of Rs 150 crore is a backup and cannot be invoked at this stage. They had objected to encashing the bank guarantee.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the lenders, had told the court that the total admitted claim of the financial creditors is Rs 7,800 crore but the financial package offered by JKC is Rs 4,783 crore, which is payable in tranches in five years.
The NCLAT order allowed JKC to adjust Rs 150 crore from a bank guarantee for infusing Rs 350 crore during the insolvency process. This was set aside by the Supreme Court. The NCLAT had said the bank guarantee would remain in operation until the appeals before it is decided.
The apex court on January 18 said that the issue of compliance with the resolution plan by the successful bidder(JKC) will be looked into by the NCLAT. It directed the NCLAT to decide the petitions by the end of March.
