In a setback to the Jalan Fritsch consortium, the successful bidder of debt-laden Jet Airways, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's order that asked it to clear the unpaid provident fund and gratuity dues of ₹250 crore to the former employees of the grounded airline.
A bench led by Chief Justice while refusing to interfere with the NCLAT’s order said that “anyone stepping in would know that there are overriding labour dues. There has to be a finality. We will not interfere.”
Senior counsel Saurabh Kripal, appearing for the consortium, said that now we will have to put in extra Rs 200 crore and it would be difficult to revive the airline. He argued that the resolution plan once approved cannot be modified or taken back.
The NCLAT had asked the company to clear the unpaid provident fund and gratuity dues of ₹250 crore to the former employees of the grounded airline. The consortium had moved SC challenging this order earlier this month.
The appeal filed by counsel Avinash B Amarnath said the appellate tribunal had dismissed the consortium's plea to cap its payment liability at ₹475 crore under the approved resolution plan. The PF and gratuity dues were not part of the approved resolution plan, which had classified only ₹52 crore out of a total ₹475 crore kept for settlements to all stakeholders towards payment of employees' dues.
While the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal had approved the Jalan-Kalrock Consortium's (JKC) resolution plan in June 2021, last week it approved the transfer of ownership of the bankrupt airline to the winning bidder. The ownership currently vests with the monitoring committee comprising Jet's lenders, JKC executives and the resolution professional.
30/01/23 Economic Times
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