No apex court relief to Paramount

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to grant Paramount Airways interim relief in a matter pertaining to deregistration of its three aircraft. Of its four functional aircraft, three have been grounded following deregistration by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The apex court disposed of a Special Leave Petition filed by the Chennai-based airline against the orders of the Delhi High Court. The High Court had rejected the airline's plea challenging the DGCA's directions.
The apex court, however, issued a notice to the DGCA on a writ petition filed by Paramount against the DGCA's orders. Paramount was given a hearing by the DGCA on the High Court's directions.
The apex court also did not give any relief to Paramount on its plea to restrain the UK-based GE Capital Aviation Service Ltd (GECAS) and Celestial Aviation, from whom it had taken three Embraer planes on lease. A Bench comprising the Chief Justice of India, Mr K.G. Balakrishnan, and Justices Mr B.S. Chauhan and Mr Deepak Verma said, “No. We are not going to pass any order on it.”
The Bench did not accept Paramount's suggestion that it would pay $1 million by May 15 if it is allowed to operate the aircraft for a month. In a bid to settle the matter amicably, the court, during the proceedings, asked Paramount to pay Rs 25 crore in cash to its lessors and resume operations.
The court said a receiver could be made in charge of the airline's revenues. But senior advocate Mr K.K. Venugopal, representing Paramount, sought the court's nod to allow Paramount to pay $1 million by operating the three planes for a month.
30/03/10 Business Line

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Categories: Foreign Mar 2010, Paramount Airways Mar 2010