Delhi HC directs senior SpiceJet officials to appear over non-payment of dues

The Delhi High Court has mandated that the chief operating officer and chief executive officer of SpiceJet appear before the court regarding compliance with a payment of over USD 6.03 lakh owed to aircraft engine lessors. Justice Manmeet PS Arora rejected the request from SpiceJet’s counsel for the two senior executives to appear via video conference.

The court emphasized, “The Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the judgment debtor are required to be present in court on the next hearing date, January 16, 2025,” as stated in the order dated December 10.

This hearing follows an application by the decree holder and aircraft engine lessor Team France 01 SAS, which requested enforcement of a consent order issued on May 29, directing SpiceJet to pay USD 6,03,870.82 to the lessors.

During the recent session, SpiceJet’s legal team requested an adjournment owing to the absence of a senior attorney.

The court will reconvene to discuss this matter on January 16, 2025.

In the order from May 29, the court established an interim directive for SpiceJet to pay the overdue amount of USD 4.8 million along with regular weekly payments associated with the engines’ usage.

However, the airline has defaulted on these payments, prompting the court to order the grounding of three engines and their return to the lessors.

SpiceJet contested the initial ruling in front of the high court’s division bench, which affirmed the earlier decision. The Supreme Court later upheld this ruling.

The single-judge’s order to ground the aircraft was made based on requests from the lessors for SpiceJet to relinquish possession of the three engines following the termination of the lease agreements.

The lessors articulated that after the lease termination, they requested SpiceJet to ground the engines and repay all outstanding dues, which the airline failed to execute.

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