Lenders of Jet Airways ask JKC to produce air operator certificate

The lenders said 13 crore out of the 200 crore payment towards the total amount came 'from other sources'

Lenders to Jet Airways on Wednesday told the Jalan-Kalrock Consortium (JKC), the successful bidder for the revival of the grounded carrier, to produce the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) in the next hearing at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal.

JKC is led by UAE-based businessman Murari Lal Jalan and London-based Kalrock Capital.

The request for the AOC, a prerequisite for flight operations, was made during the hearing in a case at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

The troubled airline’s AOC, revalidated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on May 20 of the previous year, expired on May 19, hinting that the airline is unlikely to commence commercial flights in the near future.

India’s aviation regulator renewed the airline’s AOC for over a month till September 3.

The lenders have now told the airline to produce the flying permit to prove their intention of a revival. The next date of hearing is December 11.

Earlier, the lenders of Jet Airways had questioned the source of payment of JKC, saying it is not compliant with the Resolution Plan.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) N Venkatraman, representing the lenders led by the State Bank of India (SBI) in NCLAT, said last month the source accounts from which the payments were made were questionable. "Till now they (JKC) were taking us for a ride, now they are taking this court for a ride," Venkatraman had said.

According to the payment schedule approved by the NCLAT in August, JKC was required to pay Rs 100 crore by August 31, another Rs 100 crore by September 30, and the rest Rs 150 crore was to be adjusted against the performance bank guarantee.

The lenders, however, said Rs 13 crore of the Rs 200 crore payment towards the dues came from “other sources” in contravention of the resolution plan.

JKC has refuted the allegations levelled against it by the lenders on the source of funding for reviving Jet Airways.

"We highly question the lenders' intent to transfer the ownership of the company in favour of JKC after JKC has executed all its obligations under the court-approved resolution plan by paying the full amount of Rs 350 crore. This is in light of the latest application filed by the COC (Committee of Creditors) to stay the implementation of the approved resolution plan recently in NCLT," it said.

Lenders had also expressed apprehensions about the consortium's foreign partner Florian Fritsch after his properties were searched in 2022 as part of a larger fraud and money laundering probe.

Jet Airways has not flown since April 17, 2019.