The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine the appeal filed by the SBI-led consortium challenging the March 12 NCLAT order by which the latter had allowed the transfer of the ownership of bankrupt Jet Airways to the Jalan Kalrock Consortium (JKC).

A bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice J.B. Pardiwala after briefly hearing additional solicitor-general Venkatraman for the SBI-led consortium and senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi for JCK posted the matter for further hearing to April 26.

During Monday’s argument Venkatraman assailed the order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal on the ground that despite the liability to pay Rs 4,400 crore to the lenders, JKC had so far failed to pay even Rs 350 crore to the SBI-led consortium.

Venkatraman termed as “shocking and completely unacceptable” the NCLAT order on the ground that this was contrary to the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling directing JKC to provide a bank guarantee of Rs 150 crore.

However, Rohatgi took exception to Venkatraman’s remark saying that a judicial order passed by the NCLAT cannot be assailed as “shocking”.

Earlier in April 2019, the Jet Airways had stopped operations because of a financial crunch and subsequently underwent the CIRP before the NCLAT, which finally approved a resolution plan by the JKC to take over the airlines and resume operations after repaying the creditors their dues of Rs 350 crore.