Supreme Court adjourns Credit Suisse's contempt plea against cash-strapped SpiceJet

SpiceJet

Cash-strapped airline SpiceJet received temporary relief from the Supreme Court on May 17. The court adjourned the case related to a contempt of court plea filed by Credit Suisse, a Swiss bank, regarding SpiceJet's failure to comply with a court-approved settlement plan for the payment of dues.

Credit Suisse informed the court that while SpiceJet has made some payments, it is still in contempt of court as there is an outstanding amount of over $4 million.

SpiceJet assured the court that it will continue to make payments of half a million dollars to Credit Suisse on the 15th of every month, and by August, it would have paid $1.5 million.

The Supreme Court agreed to adjourn the case to July 18 without issuing any notice or directions to SpiceJet. The court will review whether the airline has made payments as per its assurance in July.

In May 2022, SpiceJet and Credit Suisse entered into a settlement agreement to resolve a payment dispute. The dispute arose from SpiceJet's non-payment of dues to SR Technics, a Switzerland-based company that provides aircraft maintenance services. SpiceJet had defaulted on dues amounting to $20 million.

The Madras High Court had ordered the winding up of SpiceJet due to this dispute, and the order was upheld by a higher bench. However, SpiceJet challenged this decision in the Supreme Court, which stayed the order in January 2022 and urged both parties to settle the dispute instead of pursuing litigation.

A settlement agreement was reached in May 2022, requiring SpiceJet to make an upfront payment and pay the remaining balance over an agreed timeline.

The settlement was achieved after SpiceJet successfully resolved previous disputes with De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited (DHC), Boeing, CDB Aviation, BOC Aviation, and Avolon.