Delhi High Court defers hearing in SpiceJet-Maran case to 13 Oct

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₹100 crore of the ₹397 crore it owes him. According to the high court's 24 August order, the airline was instructed to pay ₹100 crore to Maran by 10 September. In the arbitration award execution case, Maran had claimed SpiceJet forfeited its right to be heard in court by wilfully disobeying orders.

He requested the court to seize SpiceJet’s entire ₹204 crore profit in addition to future profits if the debt was not paid. In its response SpiceJet argued that the demand for immediate payment could push it into insolvency, which wouldn't benefit the Marans as they would become operational creditors. SpiceJet also said its financial difficulties arose from various factors, including the purchase of Boeing 737 Max aircraft that regulators have disallowed, losses due to the covid-19 pandemic, and increased fuel prices due to the Ukraine conflict.

In February 2015 Maran transferred his entire shareholding in SpiceJet to Ajay Singh, the current chairman and managing director of the airline, after the carrier nearly went belly-up in 2014-15 because of a severe cash crunch. Singh, who paid ₹2 to take over the airline, also took on board SpiceJet’s liabilities of ₹1,500 crore. As part of the agreement, Maran and Kal Airways also made payments of ₹679 crore to SpiceJet, under Singh, to issue warrants and preference shares.

However, Maran approached the Delhi high court in 2017, alleging SpiceJet had not issued convertible warrants and preference shares or returned the money. In July 2018 an arbitration panel rejected Maran’s plea for Rs1,323 crore in damages for not issuing warrants to him and Kal Airways, but awarded him a refund of ₹579 crore plus interest. In 2020 the high court ordered SpiceJet to deposit ₹243 crore as interest