Beleaguered low-cost airline SpiceJet has rushed forward with a clarification after the Supreme Court issued a contempt of court notice and demanded that chairman and managing director Ajay Singh respond within four weeks.
The issue relates to the $24 million SpiceJet was supposed to pay Credit Suisse as per an agreement last year.
SpiceJet, in a statement issued on Monday evening, said it intended to pay the amount due and that the delay was owing to the RBI approval for which it was waiting. "SpiceJet could not start the payment as per applicable schedule under the consent terms for a few months till RBI approval came," the statement said, adding that this was a due pending from before Ajay Singh again became the promoter of the company (Singh, who founded the airline, was forced to sell the airline, only to buy it back around 2014).
"Till date, SpiceJet has paid a total of $7.1 million to Credit Suisse. The shortfall of $4.4 million pertains to the period when RBI approval was still awaited," the statement said, adding that it intended to repay the remaining $4.4 million "as per the applicable schedule."
Credit Suisse had filed a case last year complaining of lack of payments from the airline and had called for a winding up of the airline. After the Madras High Court agreed to Credit Suisse and ordered winding up of the airline, the Supreme Court had stepped in to facilitate an "in principle commercial settlement" whereby SpiceJet will repay, an agreement a livid apex court on Monday noted the Gurgaon-headquartered airline had not adhered to.
The court development came even as the airline announced its quarterly results on Monday morning, returning a profit of Rs 205 crore after previous cycles of massive losses.
