The Delhi High Court on Friday quashed its July 31, 2023 order upholding an arbitral award asking SpiceJet and its promoter Ajay Singh to refund ₹579 crore plus interest to media baron Kalanithi Maran.
The court passed the order on appeals filed by Mr. Singh and SpiceJet challenging the single judge Bench’s order. It remanded the matter back to the court concerned to consider the plea challenging the arbitral award afresh.
“The impugned judgment dated July 31, 2023 is hereby set aside. The Section 34 petitions shall in consequence stand restored upon the Board of the appropriate court for being considered afresh and bearing in mind the observations rendered hereinabove,” the Bench said.
Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act deals with applications for setting aside arbitral awards.
On July 31, 2023, the single judge Bench had upheld the July 20, 2018 arbitral tribunal award in favour of Mr. Maran and KAL Airways. Mr. Singh had approached the single judge Bench of the High Court challenging the arbitral award.
The dispute between SpiceJet and Mr. Maran dates back to January 2015 when KAL Airways offered a 58.46% stake in SpiceJet to Mr. Singh, the principal shareholder, chairman, and managing director of the airline, at a meagre price of ₹2 per share due to the airline’s financial troubles.
