India court summons SpiceJet chief over unpaid dues (updated)

Spicejet

14/08/2023 13:34

(Update with SpiceJet's statement)
    By Arpan  Chaturvedi
       NEW DELHI, Aug 14 (Reuters) - India's top court has
asked airline SpiceJet's  SPJT.NS  managing director Ajay Singh
to appear before the court and respond to a contempt case by
Credit Suisse over unpaid dues, a lawyer involved in the case
told Reuters.
    Credit Suisse in March approached the top court seeking to
initiate contempt proceedings against Singh and SpiceJet over "a
wilful and intentional disobedience" of court orders and failure
to pay dues of several million dollars as per a settlement
between the two sides, a court filing shows.
        SpiceJet said in a statement the debt was an old one
which predated the tenure of its current management.
  
        Still, the company will pay $4.4 million and any
remaining balance as per the applicable schedule, a SpiceJet
spokesperson said.
  
    As per Indian law, anyone found guilty of civil contempt can
be punished with a fine or simple imprisonment of up to six
months or both. 
    Credit Suisse and SpiceJet have been engaged in a legal
dispute since 2015 over Credit Suisse's claim of unpaid dues of
around $24 million, which led to the Madras High Court's order
that the airline be wound up in 2021.
    In an appeal against the high court order, the top court
suspended the winding-up proceedings, allowing both parties to
discuss a settlement.
    In August 2022, both sides informed the top court that they
had agreed to settle the dispute. 
    But subsequently, in March, Credit Suisse filed a contempt
case against managing director Ajay Singh, with the company
secretary and the airline saying they had failed to pay dues as
per the terms of settlement.         
    The top court has asked Singh to respond to the contempt
case within four weeks.

 (Reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi
Editing by Bernadette Baum)
 ((Arpan.Chaturvedi@thomsonreuters.com;))