NCLT admits Jet for bankruptcy, sets 90 days for resolution

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday admitted the insolvency petition filed by the lenders’ consortium led by State Bank against Jet Airways.

The tribunal has also appointed Ashish Chhauchharia of Grant Thornton as the resolution professional (RP) for the crippled airline that stopped its operations on April 17. The tribunal comprising VP Singh and Ravikumar Duraisamy directed the RP to try and finish the resolution process in three months even though the law allows six months, saying “the matter is of national importance.”

In its plea, SBI has made a claim of Rs 967 crore and said that it had given Rs 505 crore in working capital loans, and an overdraft facility of Rs 462 crore to the company. However, the tribunal rejected the plea by the Netherlands-based vendors for filing an intervention application, saying the Dutch district court had no jurisdiction to order bankruptcy of Jet Airways.

The representatives of two Dutch logistics vendors wanted the tribunal’s nod to make an intervention petition. It can be noted that two logistics vendors of Jet in the Netherlands had confiscated a passenger jet at the Amsterdam airport late March seeking dues and a local had ordered a bankruptcy process against the grounded airline in May and had appointed Rocco Mulder as the administrator for the bankruptcy proceedings.

The tribunal also rejected the bankruptcy pleas filed by two operational creditors of Jet -Shaman Wheels and Gaggar Enterprises. These companies claim Rs 8.74 crore, and Rs 53 lakh respectively from the airline, and were the first to take the airline for bankruptcy on June 10.

“Those petitions are rejected as the plea under Section 7 of the IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code) has been admitted today. However, the petitioners are free to approach the RP.