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SpiceJet's failure to deposit Rs 50 crore within the 45 days it had promised has cost it another reprieve. On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court dismissed the airline's plea for more time to deposit Rs 144.51 crore in its dispute with Kalanithi Maran and KAL Airways.
A bench of Justice Vinod Kumar held that SpiceJet could not keep seeking extensions after missing its own commitment. The court said it might have been more accommodating had the airline kept its word, observing that it would have taken a lenient view of the timeline for the second instalment had the Rs 50 crore been deposited. In the circumstances, it said, repeated extensions could not be allowed. The bench also rejected SpiceJet's offer to furnish documents of a Gurugram property as security. The same proposal had been turned down in an order dated 18 February 2026, when the property was under mortgage. Although the property was now stated to be unencumbered, the court said its main concern remained the airline's failure to honour its undertaking to deposit Rs 50 crore. The refusal comes after a series of orders. Following the Supreme Court's order of 19 May 2026, which declined to interfere with the High Court's direction to deposit the awarded amount, SpiceJet and its Managing Director Ajay Singh sought more time. On 13 July, Delhi High Court accepted their undertaking, filed through an affidavit dated July 10, and directed them to deposit Rs 50 crore within 45 days to show their bona fides, with the balance within 90 days. The court also deferred the Section 34 challenge to the arbitral award until November 2026. In August, SpiceJet and Ajay Singh filed a fresh application seeking further extension to deposit Rs 50 crore and Rs 94 crore, together amounting to Rs 144 crore. The High Court declined to entertain it. It issued no notice and granted no extension, but left it open to KAL Airways and Kalanithi Maran to take whatever action the law allows, saying it would decide appropriately once they did. The application was directed to be listed with SpiceJet's earlier application in September 2026. The dispute arises from an arbitral award in favour of KAL Airways and Kalanithi Maran. The execution proceedings are being heard alongside SpiceJet's Section 34 challenge to the award. Appearing for the respondents/decree holders, KAL Airways Pvt. Ltd. and Kalanithi Maran, were Senior Advocate Jayant Mehta, along with Nandini Gore (Senior Partner), Sonia Nigam (Associate Partner), Akarsh Sharma and Vedant Choudhary, Advocates from Karanjawala & Co. (ANI)
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