Pay Rs 579 crore in share transfer dispute, Supreme Court tells SpiceJet

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed SpiceJet to pay Rs 579 crore in a share transfer dispute case in the wake of change in the airline`s ownership in 2015.

A bench headed by Justice Rohinton F. Nariman rejected SpiceJet appeal against the July 3 order of the Delhi High Court that directed the company to deposit with its registry Rs 250 crore in cash on or before August 31, and balance Rs 329 crore by way of bank guarantee.

The case relates to a dispute arising out of non-issuance of warrants in favour of KAL Airways`s Non-Executive Chairperson Kalanithi Maran, after the transfer of firm`s ownership to Ajay Singh, the current controlling shareholder of SpiceJet.

Maran and KAL Airways had transferred their entire 58.46 per cent stake in SpiceJet, totalling 350.4 million shares, to its co-founder Ajay Singh in February 2015, leading to a change in airline`s ownership.

Under the share-purchase agreement, KAL Airways and Maran were to receive redeemable warrants in return for the Rs 690 crore they spent on SpiceJet towards operating costs and debt payments.