The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by KAL Airways and media baron Kalanithi Maran seeking over ₹1,300 crore in damages from SpiceJet in a long-running dispute over a failed share transfer agreement.
A bench comprising Justices P S Narasimha and A S Chandurkar upheld a May 23 order of the Delhi High Court, which had rejected the plea on grounds of delay. The court concurred with the high court’s view that the petitioners had indulged in a “calculated gamble” by repeatedly delaying the filing and re-filing of their appeals.
Kalanithi Maran and KAL Airways, former promoters of SpiceJet, had sought damages in connection with an arbitration award arising from a contentious agreement made in 2015. That year, Ajay Singh, who had earlier founded the airline, repurchased it from Maran after the carrier faced a financial crisis and was grounded.
As part of the share transfer deal, Maran and KAL Airways claimed to have infused ₹679 crore into SpiceJet for issuing convertible warrants and preference shares. However, they later alleged that SpiceJet failed to issue the securities and did not refund the money.
The matter went into arbitration, and a single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court had initially upheld an arbitral award directing SpiceJet and its current promoter Ajay Singh to refund ₹579 crore with interest to Maran. However, on May 17, 2023, a division bench of the high court set aside that decision, remanding the issue back to the lower court for fresh consideration.
Following this, Maran and KAL Airways filed a fresh plea seeking damages exceeding ₹1,300 crore, which the Delhi High Court dismissed due to procedural delays — a position now affirmed by the apex court.
