Spicejet Pays $1.5 Million To Credit Suisse To Comply With SC Order; Shares Jump

Budget carrier SpiceJet Ltd on Friday said it has paid $1.5 million to Credit Suisse to comply with the Supreme Court’s directives. It said the payment was executed on Thursday, September 14, 2023.

“SpiceJet Ltd. has complied with the directive of the Supreme Court by remitting $1.5 million to Credit Suisse. The payment was executed on Thursday, September 14th,” the airline said in a statement.

A third of the amount is part of a monthly settlement plan SpiceJet had previously agreed with Credit Suisse, and the rest are unpaid dues to the bank that have accrued since last year after the airline failed to keep up with the payment schedule.

Shares of Spicejet on Friday are trading higher by 2.66 per cent at Rs 39.40 apiece on the BSE during the trade at 1108 HRS.

On Monday, September 11, the Supreme Court ordered SpiceJet to make the payment by September 15 in a case related to unpaid dues. The apex court also warned the airline of unspecified “drastic action” at the next hearing if it failed to do so.

According to Credit Suisse, SpiceJet had availed the services of SR Technics, Switzerland, for maintenance, repair, and overhaul of aircraft engines, modules, components, assemblies, and parts, which were mandatory for its operations.

An agreement for such services was entered into between SpiceJet and SR Technics on November 24, 2011 for 10 years. The terms of payments were also agreed upon.

SR Technics had given Credit Suisse the right to receive payments from SpiceJet for the services.

The apex court had on July 25 given additional time to SpiceJet to make the payment to Credit Suisse as per the consent terms agreed upon by the two parties.

The top court was hearing a plea by the Swiss firm seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against Spicejet CMD Ajay Singh and SpiceJet over “a wilful and intentional disobedience” of court orders and failure to pay dues as per a settlement between the two sides.

On Tuesday, September 12, SpiceJet also paid Rs 100 crore to Kal Airways’ promoter Kalanithi Maran, as part of a Rs 380 crore arbitral award order, following a directive from the Delhi High Court on Monday, instructing the low-cost airline to fulfill the payment obligation.