NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today issued notices on cross appeals by Sahara India and Jet Airways challenging a Bombay High Court order directing the latter to pay a renegotiated amount instead of the original determined price for purchase of Sahara Airlines (now Jetlite) in 2007.
A bench of justices Altamas Kabir and S S Nijjar granted six weeks to the two parties to file their counter-affidavits and two weeks thereafter for the rejoinders.
On October 17, the high court had upheld its earlier order by a single judge asking Jet Airways to pay nine per cent interest on the balance amount of purchase price to Sahara.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice G S Godbole had dismissed appeals of Sahara India and Jet Airways challenging the May 5 order of the single bench of Justice D Y Chandrachud.
The bench had ruled that the two appeals filed by Sahara India and Jet Airways were "not maintainable" as only an SLP was maintainable against the order of the single judge.
Earlier, Jet had given an undertaking that it will not dispose of the property during the pendency of the appeal filed by Sahara.
Sahara had contended that Jet Airways was liable to pay Rs 2,000 crore, the original buyout price, instead of the renegotiated amount of Rs 1,450 crore because the latter had defaulted in paying installments by deducting income tax dues.
Both sides had agreed to the renegotiated price on condition that Jet would not default in paying installments.
Jet Airways contended that they were not liable to pay interest on balance amount at nine per cent as they had not defaulted in payments but had only deducted income tax dues which were liable to be paid by Sahara.
In its appeal, Sahara has staked its claim for Rs 2,000 crore, the original price for the buyout. It said the court had erred in holding that Jet Airways was liable to pay the renegotiated amount of Rs 1,450 crore.
Sahara sought a stay on the order passed by Justice Chandrachud on May 5. The single judge had asked Jet Airways to pay the remaining amount of Rs 478 crore (from the purchase price of Rs 1,450 crore) within two weeks to Sahara for the buyout.
The Rs 478 crore comprised interest accrued at the rate of nine per cent, as ordered by the judge, on the initial pending amount of Rs 402 crore.
Sahara pleaded in its appeal that nine per cent interest was less and it should get more. After the deal was signed, Jet had paid Rs 900 crore to Sahara and agreed to pay the remaining amount in four installments from 2008.
The Income Tax department had earlier slapped a notice of Rs 107 crore on Sahara. While Jet said Sahara was liable to pay this amount as it pertained to period before acquisition of the airline, Sahara argued it was not liable to pay for it.
On account of the I-T notice, Jet deducted Rs 37 crore and Rs 50 crore respectively, from the two installments it had paid to the Lucknow-based corporate group. This prompted Sahara India to contend in the high court that Jet Airways had defaulted in payment, a charge which the latter contested.
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