NCLT appoints Satish Kumar Gupta as liquidator of Jet Airways

NCLT appoints Satish Kumar Gupta as liquidator of Jet Airways

The National Company Law Tribunal on November 27 appointed Satish Kumar Gupta as liquidator of the grounded airline Jet Airways.

In its order, NCLT stated, "The Corporate Debtor, Jet Airways India Limited, shall be liquidated in the manner as laid down in Chapter-III of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016."

"The Liquidator shall endeavour to sale the Company as a going concern during the liquidation in terms of Regulation 32A of the Liquidation Process Regulations. In case he is not able to do so within a period of 90 days from this date, he shall proceed in accordance with clauses relevant to liquidation process regulations," the order further stated.

The tribunal has order lifting up of moratorium declared under Section 14 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 directing issuance of a public announcement stating that Corporate Debtor is in liquidation.

On an Interlocutory Application filed by the Jet Airways Cabin Crew Association seeking liquidation due to the gross violation of the approved Resolution Plan, the tribunal allowed the prayer relying on the Supreme Court ruling ordering liquidation under Article 142 of the Indian Constitution.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ordered the grounded airline's liquidation, forfeiture of Rs 200 crore infused by successful bidder Jalan Kalrock Consortium and permitted the lenders led by SBI to encash Rs 150 crore performance bank guarantee.

The NCLT, Mumbai shall now take appropriate steps for appointment of liquidator and all other necessary formalities for commencement of liquidation of the corporate debtor," a two judge bench of Prabhat Kumar and Vrendrasingh Bisht said.

Invoking its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra put the curtains down on the insolvency proceedings of the airlines by setting aside the order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

The bench termed the case as an “eye opener” and rapped NCLAT for allowing adjustment of performance bank guarantee (PBG) in view of payment of the first tranche by Jalan Kalrock Consortium (JKC).

Insolvency appellate tribunal NCLAT had allowed JKC to take over Jet Airways without fully complying with its payment obligations, it observed.

The NCLT ruling is the end of the road for Jet Airways after five and a half years of trying to resolve the airline's Rs 7800 crore debt. It was admitted to insolvency in June 2019.

According to court documents seen by Moneycontrol the total book value of non-core assets held by Jet Airways is estimated to be worth Rs 1,066.75 crore, which includes six luxury cars in the name of the airline. Jet Airways' assets in Amsterdam include a Boeing 777-35 aircraft (VT-JEW), spare aircraft parts, catering items and trade receivables and land owned by the airline.

The biggest non-core asset that Jet Airways holds is the 15,000 sq. mtr floor in a commercial building in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex, valued at Rs 683 crore and the Boeing 777-35 valued at Rs 376.4 crore as of June 2019, according to court documents.