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An arbitration tribunal has rejected the Rs 1,323-crore damages claim from SpiceJet by its previous owner Kalanithi Maran in a share transfer dispute, the airline said on Saturday.
Maran and his KAL Airways had sought compensation from SpiceJet and its chairman and managing director Ajay Singh for failing to transfer warrants in his name when the airline changed hands in 2015.
The tribunal upheld SpiceJet’s defense that it failed to issue convertible warrants due to lack of regulatory approvals.
Sun TV promoter Maran will now have to settle for Rs 579 crore — a claim quantified by the Delhi High Court and deposited with its registry in 2016. The tribunal has asked Maran to pay Singh and the airline Rs 29 crore in penal interest.
“In so far as the matter of issuance of warrants was concerned, the Tribunal has held that there was no breach by the company in pursuing the approval from A relevant authority and since the same was not received for reasons not attributable to the Company, the company cannot be held to be in breach or be made liable for damages,” SpiceJet said in a BSE filing.
“There wouldn’t be any dilution of stake and no impact on the balance sheet of the company. The amount (entitled to Maran) is already in an escrow account,” a SpiceJet official said. —FE
