India’s Supreme Court halts SpiceJet order to pay $33mn

The Supreme Court of India has halted last month’s High Court of Delhi ruling ordering SpiceJet (SG, Delhi Int’l) to transfer INR2.43 billion rupees (USD33 million) to media mogul Kalanithi Maran and his conglomerate Sun Group, the Hindu Business Line reported. After hearing both parties via video conferencing on November 6, the three-member Supreme Court bench opted to demand a stay of legal proceedings “until further orders”, providing temporary relief for the cash-strapped low-cost carrier. India’s highest court also issued notices to that effect to Maran and his company KAL Airways, which held a controlling stake in SpiceJet between June 2010 and January 2015. As previously reported, the High Court gave SpiceJet and its majority owner Ajay Singh in early September six weeks to deposit the sum, which corresponded to interest for warrants and non-convertible cumulative preference shares that had allegedly been agreed in 2015 and paid for but not issued to Maran. When the carrier failed to do so, Maran asked the court in mid-October to give him control of Singh’s entire 59.13% stake in the airline. SpiceJet then appealed to the Supreme Court.