In a huge relief to low-cost carrier SpiceJet, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered a stay on a Delhi high court order which had ordered the private airline to pay Rs 243 crore to its former promoter Kalanithi Maran.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde while staying the high court order of September 7 issued a notice to Maran for his response on the appeal filed by SpiceJet which challenged the high court order.

“Issue notice returnable within four weeks. There shall be stay of operation of the impugned order until further order,” the bench also comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian said. A single judge headed by Justice Rekha Phalli had passed the earlier order directing the airlines to pay the Marans Rs 243 crore within six weeks.

If it doesn’t, the court had said the Marans will be allowed to press their claims for status quo on the shareholding of the budget airline.

The Marans had earlier signed a share purchase agreement with Ajay Singh the present owner of the airline on January 29, 2015 and transferred their entire 58.46 per cent shareholding to the businessman.

Interest not paid

Though the Marans had received the sum in two tranches — the first Rs 250 crore on April 30, 2019 and another Rs 58 crore on October 4, 2019 — the interest was not forthcoming, following which it had approached the high court.