SpiceJet vs Kalanithi Maran: SC upholds high court order, dispute sent to single judge
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that the division bench of the high court was justified in sending the case back.
The Supreme Court upheld a division bench order that remanded arbitration dispute back to a single judge in Kalanithi Maran’s case against SpiceJet. This comes after the Delhi High Court in May overturned a previous ruling that upheld an arbitral award in favor of former promoter of SpiceJet Kalanithi Maran. Last year in July, a single-judge bench of the high court declined to intervene in the 2018 arbitral award which mandated SpiceJet to refund ₹579 crore with interest to Kalanithi Maran.
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Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that the division bench of the high court was justified in sending the case back as the single judge had not ‘applied his mind at all’.
"This is atrocious... Where has he (single judge) even applied his mind? We are in agreement with reasoning of the division bench sending it back to single judge for order again under Section 34,” CJI Chandrachud said.
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On the verdict, SpiceJet said, “Following this success, SpiceJet will now pursue a refund of ₹450 crore, as outlined in our previous press release. In addition to significant steps being taken by SpiceJet to raise new funds, this refund will additionally strengthen the airline’s financial position and enable further expansion.”
