Kingfisher Airlines application: DRT may pass order on July 7

The Debt Recovery Tribunal may pass orders on July 7 on an application by Kingfisher Airlines seeking amendment to its earlier written reply in response to the original application (OA) filed by a consortium of banks in the Vijay Mallya case.

Kingfisher, in its amendment application, has sought about Rs 3,000 crore from banks which it claims was to be given to it for proposed projects as per the agreement, resulting in the company incurring losses. The airline, in its counter today, pleaded for allowing the application to meet justice, after quoting from earlier Supreme Court orders.

As soon as the Tribunal assembled for proceedings today, Kingfisher’s counsel submitted it had incurred about Rs 3,000 crore loss as banks had not lent them money for new projects, which should have been maintained as per the agreement. Hence, the airline said it had introduced the amendment application.

Further, this application should be allowed in the interest of justice as there was an apex court precedence.

“Allowing an amendment application is a rule and disallowing it amounts to a case of exception,” the airline said. Kingfisher said there was no cut-off time for any party to file their amendment application in the court of law, in this case, the Tribunal. Bankers’ counsel Nagananda prayed that the application not be allowed ‘according to its whims and fancies’ and that the limitation period of the right to claim amendment had elapsed.

Moreover, DRT should not allow Kingfisher to expand the bankers’ course of OA by accepting its amendment application at the fag end of the proceedings, Nagananda said.

Countering Kingfisher’s submissions, he said indiscreet filing of stamp duty papers by banks cannot be considered as a premise to allow Kingfisher’s amendment application.

Nagananda also said the airline’s application is vexatious and a party cannot sleep over their right to amend written reply after a certain period of time. DRT Presiding Officer C R Benakanahalli posted the matter for next hearing on July seven.

Mallya’s now-defunct group company Kingfisher Airlines owes over Rs 9,000 crore to a consortium of 17 banks led by SBI. He had left the country on March 2 and is in the UK. He has been declared a proclaimed offender by a special PMLA court in Mumbai on a plea by Enforcement Directorate in connection with its money laundering probe against him in the alleged bank loan default case.