Bankruptcy plea on Jet Airways admitted

Mumbai: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday admitted lenders move for bankruptcy proceedings for Jet Airways. The NCLT has directed the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) to take control of all Jet assets and try to resolve the matter within a period of three months as the matter is of national importance. It further asked the IRP, Ashish Chhauchharia of Grant Thornton, to submit the progress report on the case on a fortnightly basis. The first status report will have to be filed by July 5.

The insolvency tribunal also rejected judgement by the Netherlands court on Jet's liquidation. A consortium of 26 bankers led by State Bank of India (SBI) had taken the grounded Jet Airways to the NCLT to recover their dues of over Rs 8,500 crore after they failed to get a suitable offer from any of the potential investors.

The announcement came hours after stocks of the grounded airlines surged a whopping 146 per cent in intra-day trading, leading to the Bombay Stock Exchange seeking clarification from the company.

Market players attributed to the rise in Jet Air stock to heavy short covering, as the stock is moving out of the derivative segment from July. The stock finally closed with a hefty gain of 93.35 per cent at Rs 64 on the BSE.

The 25 year old airline stopped flying on April 17 after it ran out of cash. “The decision to refer the resolution of Jet Airways under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) was taken after due diligence by all," Rajnish Kumar, SBI Chairman said after attending the bank's annual general meeting during the day.

"There are cogent reasons for lenders. Every decision is taken after lot of due diligence,"  Kumar said.