Delhi High Court summons SpiceJet CEO, COO over non-payment of $6 million to lessors

The Delhi High Court has directed the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of SpiceJet to appear in person before the Court on January 16, 2025 over the non-payment of $6.03 million due to its lessors, Team France 01 SAS and Sunbird France 02 SAS, which was payable under a May 29 consent decree [Team France 01 SAS v. SpieceJet]..Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora added that the two SpiceJet representatives would have to be physically present in Court. "It is made clear that the request of the counsel for Judgement Debtor (SpiceJet) for appearance of the aforesaid officers through Video Conferencing has been specifically denied," the Court's December 10 order said. .The company has not hired a COO after Arun Kashyap left earlier this year. Ajay Singh is presently SpiceJet's Chairman and Managing Director. He was earlier summoned by the High Court in 2023 over non-payment of dues by SpiceJet to Kalanidhi Maran. .Engine lessors, Team France 01 SAS and Sunbird France 02 SAS had initiated legal action against SpiceJet demanding the return of aircraft engines due to non-payment of contractual obligations following the termination of their agreements.In January 2024, a Court order compelled SpiceJet to pay an immediate $4 million to avoid the engines from being grounded. By May 2024, the unpaid amount had escalated to $10.84 million and the Court decided to lay down a path for SpiceJet to pay outstanding dues. On May 29, 2024, SpiceJet committed to paying $4.8 million, through monthly installments of $1.2 million, till September 2024, along with weekly rental fees for the engine. The Court warned that any failure to adhere to these terms would result in the grounding and return of the engines..However, SpiceJet later defaulted in making these payments. Thus, the Court ordered the airline to ground three engines by August 16 and return them to the lessors, Team France 01 SAS and Sunbird France 02 SAS, in 15 days. The Court added that SpiceJet will remain liable for making payments of the outstanding amount of US $4.8 million as well as the weekly payments arising on account of the use of the engines.Subsequently, this order was upheld by a Division Bench of the High Court and the Supreme Court as well. .In addition to the litigation pending before the High Court, SpiceJet is also facing at least ten insolvency petitions before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). .The lessors before the High Court were represented by Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao with advocates Anandh Venkataramani, Saket Satapathy, Anubhav Dutta, Akshita Totla, Mansi Tyagi, Vishakha Gupta, Rini Mehra and Devvrat Singh.SpiceJet was represented by advocates KR Sasiprabhu, Sanjeev Seshadri and Chinmayi Chatterjee..[Read Order]