SpiceJet Hits Back at Rs 1,323 Crore Claim by Ex-Promoter Maran, Calls It ‘Legally Untenable’

SpiceJet has firmly denied the Rs 1,323 crore damages claim made by its former promoter Kalanithi Maran and KAL Airways, calling the claims “legally untenable.” The airline said these claims had already been rejected by both an Arbitral Tribunal and the Delhi High Court.

As a result of this news, SpiceJet’s shares dropped by nearly 1.3% on Tuesday morning, even though the overall market was stable with a slight positive trend.

The dispute between SpiceJet and Maran goes back to January 2015, when KAL Airways sold a 58.46% stake in SpiceJet to Ajay Singh.

On Monday, Maran and KAL Airways announced they would seek over Rs 1,323 crore in damages from SpiceJet, led by Ajay Singh. They also planned to challenge a recent Delhi High Court decision in their ongoing dispute.

Earlier in May, a division bench of the Delhi High Court overturned a single judge’s order that had required SpiceJet and Ajay Singh to repay Rs 579 crore plus interest to Maran. The bench asked the lower court to reconsider the petitions challenging the arbitral award.

Following this decision, SpiceJet announced it would seek a refund of Rs 450 crore from Maran, out of the Rs 730 crore it had already paid to him and his company, Sun Group.