The National Company Law Tribunal on Tuesday granted relief to Ace Aviation Ltd., the potential buyer for Jet Airways Ltd.'s grounded aircraft.
The court has allowed an application that allows them to purchase the debt-ridden airlines' aircraft, based on an agreement reached between Ace and the monitoring committee of Jet Airways.
The sale had come to a halt in November 2022, owing to disputes between Jet Airways lenders and the Jalan Kalrock Consortium, the successful resolution applicant for the debt-ridden airlines.
Ace Aviation, a Malta-based company that is part of the Challenge Group, had approached the insolvency court after the monitoring committee of Jet Airways' insolvency put the aircraft sale on hold pursuant to a legal tussle between Jalan Karlock Consortium and its lenders.
The company's letter of intent for purchasing the grounded aircraft was accepted by the monitoring committee, which consists of its lenders, consortium, and resolution professionals. However, the committee later refused to go ahead with the sale after disputes erupted between the consortium and the airline's lenders. By then, Ace had already deposited Rs 50 crore out of the Rs 400 crore agreed for the aircraft.
Initially, the disputes were over the non-payment of Rs 350 crore, as agreed by the consortium in its resolution plan. Now that the consortium has paid the agreed amount, disputes remain as to the source of funds infused by the aircraft.
In its July order, the court refused to allow the sale, citing these pre-existing disputes. “Since the sale process was kept in abeyance by the lenders and monitoring committee, it is their responsibility to clear the deadlock, as it has arisen post-approval of the resolution plan," the court had then said. Aggrieved, it approached the appellate tribunal for relief; however, this was subsequently withdrawn.
The court has now allowed the sale of aircraft, despite ongoing troubles between the consortium and its lenders.
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