SpiceJet battle lost by Kalanithi Maran, but gets back Rs 579 crore

An arbitration tribunal has rejected the Rs 1,323 crore damages claim from Spicejet and a bid to take control of the airline by its previous owner Kalanithi Maran and his company Kal Airways, after a bitter share transfer dispute. The Delhi-based low-cost carrier has informed the exchanges that on July 20, an arbitration tribunal rejected Maran’s claim of damages of Rs 1,323 crore for not issuing convertible warrants and preference shares to him and Kal Airways.

The case dates back to January 2015, when Singh, who owned the airline earlier bought it back from Maran after being grounded for months.

The tribunal consisted of three retired judges from the Supreme Court, Arijit Pasayat, Hemant Laxman Gokhale and KSP Radhakrishnan.

The arbitration proceedings were concluded in April 2018 and the arbitral award was unanimous.

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While the tribunal asked Maran to pay Singh and the airline Rs 29 crore in penal interest, Singh was asked to refund Rs 579 crore plus interest to Maran.

The tribunal, created in end-2016 on the orders of the Delhi High Court to adjudicate the share transfer dispute, held that there was no breach of a share sale and purchase agreement reached between Maran and current promoter Ajay Singh in late January 2015.