Delhi HC rejects Go First plea, lessors free to inspect planes

livemint.com:

New Delhi: The division bench of the Delhi High Court has rejected the appeal by Go First, seeking a stay on the interim order by a single judge bench on 5 July. The interim order had allowed its lessors to inspect its 30 parked aircraft. Besides, the bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sajeev Narula, granted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation 15 days to give approvals for the airline to resume operations.

Rajiv Nayyar, the counsel representing Go First’s lessors, argued that the DGCA should not consider the application of the airline until the final hearing starts on 3 August. The lessors argued that the lease agreement had expired and aviation rules do not permit an airline to retain possession of the aircraft. The lessors’ counsel also contended that the corporate insolvency resolution process cannot compel renewal of the lease contract.

Neeraj Kishan Kaul, senior counsel appearing for the airline, questioned the extraordinary jurisdiction exercised by the single judge in passing the interim order while the matter is also under consideration by National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The interim order is detrimental to NCLT proceedings, he argued. The court has directed the single-bench judge to hear the writ petition and issue the final order in the case.

The DGCA informed the HC that it had received the audit report and sent a reply to Go First’s resolution professional attaching the audit report. The lawyer also said it had identified certain shortcomings in the report, but the RP has to take a call on filing a reply. The entire process is expected to take two weeks, she added.