Jet deposits Rs 137.5 cr with HC in Sahara case

Mumbai: Jet airways deposited Rs 137.5 crore with the Bombay High Court on Tuesday, the penultimate day of the current fiscal, even as it continued a prolonged legal battle with the Sahara Group over the payment of taxes.
Jet Airways and Sahara India Commercial Corporation (SICCL) — the erstwhile owner of Air Sahara — are fighting it out in court over who has to pay taxes due to the government prior to the acquisition of Air Sahara in 2007 by Jet.
Jet had moved an application on Monday before Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud seeking to deposit the amount with the court instead of paying it to Sahara. It’s counsel Janak Dwarkadas said that they were willing to let SICCL withdraw the deposited money if Sahara provided a security against it.
He told the court that the dispute over Rs 800 crore of tax owned by SICCL before 2007 was yet to be resolved. Jet says that this amount was not disclosed and that Sahara should pay.
Sahara’s lawyer Pradeep Sancheti, however, argued that the money should be given directly to SICCL. He said that depositing the money with the court amounted to default. The court upheld Sahara’s right to pursue this line of argument on the issue of default on April 30, when the case comes up for further hearing.
21/03/10 Almas Meherally & Manisha Singhal/Economic Times

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Jet Airways Mar 2010