The Delhi High Court on Friday ordered the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to process de-registration of grounded airline Go First’s entire fleet of 54 aircraft sought by various lessors within five days and facilitate their export from India.
The High Court set aside the letters of communication issued by the DGCA to various lessors in May last year where it put into abeyance their de-registration applications. This followed the National Company Law Tribunal’s (NCLT) decision on May 10 to admit Go First’s plea for voluntary insolvency and consequential moratorium prohibiting adverse actions by its lessors and debtors. Following this, 14 lessors moved the Delhi High Court.
The Delhi HC also instructed the DGCA to facilitate export of aircraft from India and provide export certificates along with other documents. It also authorised the lessor petitioners to undertake maintenance of the grounded aircraft till their de-registration and export, while restraining the resolution professional (RP) appointed by the NCLT from entering the aircraft and removing its parts and documents. Lessors have also been permitted to inspect their aircraft with the court ordering the DGCA and the Airports Authority of India to facilitate this.
