Jet Airways crisis: NCLT asks operational creditors to again serve legal notices to airline, adjourns hearing to 20 June

Mumbai: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday adjourned the hearing on Jet Airways insolvency case to 20 June. By asking the two operational creditors — Shaman Wheels and Gaggar Enterprises — who have taken Jet Airways to NCLT, to again serve legal notices to the grounded airline, the tribunal is yet to admit the bankruptcy pleas. These two companies had on 10 June dragged the airline to the NCLT seeking bankruptcy proceedings. The airline, which was grounded on 17 April, owes Rs 8.74 crore to Shaman Wheels and Rs 53 lakh to Gaggar Enterprises. [caption id=“attachment_6478521” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Jet Airways owes more than Rs 8,000 crore to a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India, which now run the airline, while it has a much larger debt pile by way of accumulated losses to the tune of Rs 13,000 crore and vendor dues of over Rs 10,000 crore and salary dues of over Rs 3,000 crore. The banks have appointed SBI Capital Markets as the investment banker to find an investor to scout investors. Bankers, after taking over the airline late March, had invited bids on 8 April to sell up to 75 percent stake in the crippled carrier that formally stopped operations on 17 April. Though it had received initial bids from parties — Etihad Airways, private equity players TPG Capital and Indigo Partners, and the sovereign wealth fund NIIF, none of them chose to submit the final bids. Currently, bankers are trying to stave off bankruptcy even as media reports said Etihad Airways, which already owns 24 percent in the airline, has teamed up with the Hindujas to buy the airline. The Jet Airways counter plunged close to 17 percent to Rs 91.95 on the BSE after the exchanges put many restrictions on trading in the stock last evening.