SC to pronounce judgment today on Jet Airways ownership

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The Supreme Court is set to pronounce its judgment on Thursday on lenders' plea challenging the transfer of ownership of grounded Jet Airways to Jalan Kalrock Consortium (JKC). According to the cause list published on the apex court's website, a bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra will pronounce the verdict on November 7. The Committee of Creditors (CoC), led by the State Bank of India, has said that the proposed revival plan was not in the best interest of lenders and questioned the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order upholding the resolution plan.

In January this year, the Supreme Court ordered JKC, the successful resolution professional bidder for the cash-strapped airline, to deposit Rs 150 crore in an escrow account jointly held by the State Bank of India and JKC. It had cautioned that legal consequences would follow if the JKC failed to furnish the bank guarantee. It had also asked the NCLAT to decide by the end of March 2024 on the lenders' plea challenging the ownership of the grounded Airways to JKC. The consortium had undertaken an infusion of Rs 350 crore equity per the court-approved resolution plan to assume ownership of Jet Airways.

A three-member bench of the NCLAT had agreed to an adjustment of Rs 150 crore from the Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) towards the payment of Rs 350 crore. The appellate tribunal had also accepted an undertaking given by the consortium committing to pay Rs 100 crore by August 31 last year and another Rs 100 crore by September 30, 2023. Due to severe financial distress, Jet Airways, once one of India's largest and most popular airlines, entered the corporate insolvency resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in June 2019.