In another blow to SpiceJet, Celestial Aviation Services Limited has filed a plea to initiate Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The plea is filed under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016.
Celestial is the fifth lessor to move an insolvency plea against SpiceJet. Pleas by lessors such as Willis Lease Finance, Aircastle and Wilmington are already pending at the NCLT.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on August 8 orally observed that Willis Lease Finance Corporation, which has filed an insolvency plea against low-cost airline SpiceJet, should have sent a fresh notice to the airline after it withdrew its previous plea.
Willis had previously initiated an insolvency plea against SpiceJet for the same cause of action. However, it withdrew the plea owing to some technical defects in March 2023.
The tribunal questioned how a fresh insolvency plea could be filed for the same cause of action, without first sending a notice to SpiceJet under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. It also questioned how a new plea could be initiated for the same cause of action, without obtaining the court's permission to do so.