SC Stays Madras HC Order To Wind Up SpiceJet for 3 Weeks, But Raps Airline

In an relief for SpiceJet, the SC put a stay on the publication of the Madras High Court order passed last year.

SpiceJet was earlier asked by the Madras High Court to wind up and liquidate its assets to pay off the debt.

(Photo Courtesy: Aldo Badini/ Wikipedia)

In an interim relief to the debt-ridden air carrier SpiceJet, the Supreme Court on Friday, 28 January, stayed the Madras High Court ruling passed in December 2020 to wind up the company and liquidate its assets in order to clear the loan.

The court also asked SpiceJet to try settling with Credit Suisse, to which it owes an amount of the order of $24 million, and has been unable to find a way to pay back the amount so far.

The stay will remain in place for three weeks, as per the time requested by the senior advocate Harish Salve, who argued for SpiceJet. Salve said that the airline is trying to work things out with the Swiss creditor, according to LiveLaw.

However, the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana pulled up the airline saying, "If you don't want to run the airlines, we will declare you insolvent. This is not the way to run an airline."

Friday's hearing took place after senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi on 25 January mentioned before the CJI the special leave petition filed by SpiceJet for urgent listing.

Credit Suisse had moved the winding-up petition before a company court claiming that SpiceJet was indebted to it for more than $24 million for maintenance, repair, and overhauling (MRO) the Zurich-based MRO service provider SR Technics, reported IANS.

The orders to wind up were passed by a single bench of the Madras High Court first on 7 December, after which the petitioners moved to the Division bench.

The Division Bench dismissed the appeal thereafter, but had kept the orders in abeyance until 28 January.

(With inputs from LiveLaw & IANS.)