SpiceJet making payments to Credit Suisse dues following court order, lawyers tell SC

SpiceJet Vs Credit Suisse

The Supreme Court was told on December 4 that low-cost airline SpiceJet and its chairman-cum-managing-director Ajay Singh have made payments to Credit Suisse in accordance with the court order.

The court, however, made it clear that it would continue to monitor the loan repayment and would not dispose of the case.

Even though Credit Suisse told the court that the latest installment was paid five days late, the court noted that it was not of a concern as long as the money was paid, but advised Singh and SpiceJet to avoid delays in future.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for Singh and SpiceJet, asked the court to dispense with Singh's personal presence on the next date of hearing. But the court noted that it will take a call on this depending on the repayment of the next installments.

The case is now likely to come up for hearing in February 2024.

In September 2023, the Supreme Court had directed Ajay Singh and SpiceJet to pay $1 million a month for the next six months to Credit Suisse towards clearing its dues.  The airline is paying $500,000 a month but Credit Suisse wanted the payment to be increased to $1.5 million, the court doubled the monthly repayment to $1 million for six months and from the seventh month, SpiceJet can regularise its repayment.

On September 15, SpiceJet transferred $1.5 million to Credit Suisse in keeping with an SC directive after the court warned Singh of “consequences”. The court warned Singh that he would be sent to the Tihar jail for not following its order on paying Credit Suisse AG.

It asked Singh to pay $500,000 towards an installment to the Swiss firm along with $1 million defaulted amount. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah said: "We have to move to the next drastic step. We are not worried even if you shut down."

On August 14, the court issued a contempt notice to Singh on a plea filed by Credit Suisse, accusing the carrier of failing to comply with a court-approved settlement plan for payment of dues.

The Swiss bank had in April initiated contempt proceedings against SpiceJet after the airline failed to comply with a court-approved settlement plan for the repayment of dues.

SpiceJet and Credit Suisse entered into an agreement in May 2022 to resolve a payment dispute that arose from the airline’s non-payment of dues to SR Technics, a Switzerland-based company that provides aircraft maintenance services. SpiceJet defaulted on dues amounting to $20 million.

On today's order, the airline in its statement said: "This is a positive outcome for the company and our stakeholders, and we are grateful to the court for its understanding. We are committed to paying our dues in full and on time. We remain fully committed to upholding the highest standards of compliance and look forward to continuing our positive engagement with all stakeholders.