DRT dismisses plea of Kingfisher Airlines for amending its reply

The Debt Recovery Tribunal today dismissed an application by Kingfisher Airlines seeking an amendment to its earlier reply on the original application (OA) filed by a consortium of banks in the Vijay Mallya bank loan default case and demanding Rs 3,000 crore toward losses suffered by it.

Bengaluru: The Debt Recovery Tribunal on Friday dismissed an application by Kingfisher Airlines seeking an amendment to its earlier reply on the original application (OA) filed by a consortium of banks in the Vijay Mallya bank loan default case and demanding Rs 3,000 crore toward losses suffered by it.

Kingfisher, in its amendment application, had sought about Rs 3,000 crore from banks which it claims was to be given to it for proposed projects as per the agreement but did not happen resulting in the company incurring losses.

The airline, in its counter, had pleaded for allowing the application to meet justice, after quoting from earlier Supreme Court orders.

Kingfisher's counsel had argued that the company had incurred about Rs 3,000 crore loss as banks had not lent them money for new projects, which should have been maintained as per the agreement. Hence, the airline said it had introduced the amendment application.

"Allowing an amendment application is a rule and disallowing it amounts to a case of exception," the airline had said.

Kingfisher also had argued that there was no cut-off time for any party to file their amendment application in the court of law, in this case, the Tribunal.

Bankers' counsel had prayed that the application not be allowed and that the limitation period of the right to claim amendment had elapsed.

Moreover, DRT should not allow Kingfisher to expand the bankers' course of OA by accepting its amendment application at the fag end of the proceedings, bankers counsel had said.

Dismissing the airline's application, DRT Presiding Officer C R Benakanahalli adjourned the proceedings for next hearing to July 13.

Mallya's now-defunct group company Kingfisher Airlines owes over Rs 9,000 crore to a consortium of 17 banks led by State Bank of India.

He had left the country on March 2 and is in the UK and has been declared a proclaimed offender by a special PMLA court in Mumbai on a plea by Enforcement Directorate in connection with its money laundering probe against him in the alleged bank loan default case.