Kingfisher Airlines says it will contest bank's move in Supreme Court

United Bank of India (UBI) on Monday declared Kingfisher Airlines and its chairman Vijay Mallya (pictured) wilful defaulters for non-payment of Rs 400 crore of dues. Three company directors — Subhash R Gupte, Ravi Nedungadi and Anil Kumar Ganguly — also figure in the list. The grounded airline company described the bank’s move as “post-haste”.

 

The bank’s grievance-redress committee on wilful default on Monday met at its Kolkata headquarters. “No representative from the airline company attended the meeting. The committee deliberated on the written submission of the company, examined the documents and directed the bank to declare Kingfisher Airlines and its directors wilful defaulters,” UBI Executive Director Deepak Narang told Business Standard.

 

Kingfisher Airlines had moved the Calcutta High Court two months after the bank had in May identified it and Mallya as wilful defaulters. The court last week dismissed the plea, paving the way for UBI to declare the company and its chairman wilful defaulters.

 

“Kingfisher Airlines has been demanding that UBI permit it to have legal representation of its choice at the hearing to be held before the grievance-redress committee set up by the bank. The basis for the demand is that being declared a wilful defaulter entails serious consequences, including penal action. So, depriving Kingfisher Airlines of an opportunity to be represented by a trained legal professional is denial of real and reasonable opportunity to the company to defend itself and a violation of the principles of natural justice,” the company said.

 

A single-judge Bench and the division Bench of the Calcutta High Court, through orders dated July 10 and August 28, had respectively dismissed a writ petition and an appeal filed by Kingfisher Airlines against UBI’s move. On August 29, the company had filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court against the orders of high court.

 

 

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Source: Internet

 

Authors:

Somasroy Chakraborty & Raghuvir Badrinath