NCLAT seeks Jet lenders' response on Dutch insolvency administrator's plea

Appellate tribunal asks Jet lenders to file affidavit in a week, to next hear the case on September 4

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday asked the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of Jet Airways if they would coordinate with a Dutch court appointed administrator and accord other equally situated foreign lenders, who were also pursuing insolvency proceedings against the debt-laden airline, the same status as they would to the secured and unsecured financial creditors in India.

A three-member Bench led by Chairperson Justice S J Mukhopadhaya asked the lenders to the airline to file an affidavit within a week detailing whether they would also pay the fees and costs of the Dutch court appointed administrator. The case will be next heard on September 4.

Apart from India, Jet is also facing insolvency proceedings in the Netherlands, which is a regional hub for the European operations of the airline. Jet was declared bankrupt in the Netherlands in response to a complaint filed by two European creditors, H Esser Finance Company and Wallenborn Transport, who had claimed unpaid dues worth Rs 280 crore. Following this, the insolvency administrators had approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) with a plea that they should be allowed to access the firm’s assets in India, too, which would enable them to recover monies to pay off the two European creditors.

The NCLT had rejected the Dutch court appointed administrator’s plea for being heard in the case, following which they had approached the appellate tribunal. The NCLAT had, while agreeing to hear the Dutch court administrator, also stayed a portion of the NCLT Mumbai Bench’s order that held that Dutch insolvency administrator’s offshore proceeding were not maintainable and hence they could not be allowed to access the airlines’ financial assets in India.