New Delhi: Cash-starved Kingfisher Airlines Tuesday did not get any relief from the Supreme Court which refused to interfere with the order of Grievance Redressal Committee of United Bank of India (UBI) declaring it and its promotor Vijay Mallya as wilful defaulter.
"Your grievance has been, that Grievance Redressal Committee (GRC) should not decide the matter but they have already decided it, therefore your plea is infructuous" a bench comprising justices A R Dave and U U Lalit said.
Kingfisher submitted that the GRC passed the order despite being informed that it has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court order dismissing its plea that Mallya and board of directors may be represented by its law officers or company secretary on a showcause notice by UBI for alleged wilful default on payment of dues of Rs 400 crore.
The apex court said since the Special Leave Petition has become infructuous, Kingfisher can go back to the High Court challenging the order of GRC.
State-run UBI yesterday became the first lender to declare debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines and its promoter Vijay Mallya as wilful defaulters.
Assailing the GRC order, senior advocates Abhishek Singhvi and Parag Tripathi, appearing for Kingfisher, said the bank should have waited for the outcome of the appeal before the apex court as the airline was only seeking that its promotor and directors should be allowed to be represented by their counsel.
They said the petition was yesterday mentioned before the bench headed by Chief Justice R M Lodha, which declined to give urgent hearing and listed the matter for today.
The senior advocates said Kingfisher was making an attempt that they should be allowed to be represented by their advocate and order of the GRC has wide and stark consequences as the company would face ostracism in financial market.
However, Attorney Generla Mukul Rohatgi opposed the plea of Kingfisher saying it has been for months seeking adjournments in the High Court and allegedly indulged in diverting funds without paying salary to its employees.
The High Court had on August 29 dismissed an appeal by Kingfisher Airlines against a trial court order that Mallya and directors may be represented by its law officers or company secretary on a showcause notice by UBI for alleged wilful default on payment of dues of Rs 400 crore.
The division bench had upheld an order of single judge delivered on July 10, directing the UBI authorities to give a 72-hour notice to Kingfisher for fixing a date for the meeting.
