The Supreme Court has granted additional time to SpiceJet Ltd. in a contempt petition by Credit Suisse Group AG against the distressed airline for failing to pay its dues in accordance with a court-approved settlement agreement.
Appearing for Spicejet, senior advocate Shyam Divan said that $5,00,000 has been deposited with the Swiss investment bank every month since April and that a total sum of $2 million has been paid till now.
Divan assured the court that SpiceJet will try to increase the monthly amount of $5,00,000 that it has been paying, but added that it would not be possible to clear the dues in one fell swoop.
Credit Suisse's counsel submitted that at the time of filing the contempt petition, the outstanding dues were $3.9 million, which has now gone over $4 million because SpiceJet missed paying an installment.
The court will now examine the assurances made by the airline in the third week of August.
In May last year, SpiceJet and Credit Suisse reached a settlement agreement, which was later approved by the apex 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 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.
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