SpiceJet-Credit Suisse Case: Supreme Court Warns Ajay Singh Of 'Drastic Steps' Over Unpaid Dues

The Supreme Court on Monday expressed displeasure over SpiceJet Ltd. failing to take care of its debt obligations due to Credit Suisse Group AG.

The court ordered the airline to deposit $500,000 before Sept. 15 as part of its monthly payments towards the Swiss investment bank. It asked the airline to deposit an additional $1 million towards the defaulted amount.

According to SpiceJet, there is an outstanding arrear of $4 million, while Credit Suisse claims the amount stands at $4.5 million.

The court said certain "drastic steps" will be taken towards Ajay Singh, chief managing director of SpiceJet, if he fails to comply with this order and that he might "end up in Tihar jail".

The case will now come up for a hearing on Sept. 22.

In the last hearing, the top court had issued a notice of contempt against Singh for failing to pay the dues in accordance with a court-approved settlement agreement.

In May last year, SpiceJet and Credit Suisse entered into a settlement agreement, which was subsequently approved by the top court.

The dispute emanates from an aircraft maintenance agreement that SpiceJet entered into with Switzerland-based SR Technics in 2011. Later, SR Technics signed a financing agreement with Credit Suisse. This gave Credit Suisse the right to get paid for invoices raised against SpiceJet for maintenance and repair of the aircraft.

In December 2021, the Madras High Court ordered the winding up of SpiceJet on the grounds that it failed to clear the debt owed to Credit Suisse.

This led to the matter landing in the top court, where both sides finally agreed to settle the dispute through a court-approved settlement.

SpiceJet is committed to complying with all court directives and obligations and will make the payment of $1.5 million as per the court directive, a spokesperson from the airline said in a statement.