NCLT accepts Delhivery notice citing Go First's insolvency as fraudulent, ET Infra

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NEW DELHI: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Thursday accepted Delhivery’s notice seeking declaration of Go First’s voluntary insolvency resolution as “fraudulent and malicious.” It gave the interim resolution professional (IRP) of the Wadia-group airline two weeks to reply.

“Go First received ₹57 lakh on May 2 from Delhivery as advance for future services, knowing fully well they were filing for insolvency,” said the counsel for Delhivery. Under Section 65 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016, fraudulent and malicious initiation of insolvency proceedings can invite a penalty of ₹1 lakh to ₹1 crore.

Counsel for the IRP asked the court to also implead the former management but the bench directed the resolution professional to file a reply in the matter and listed it for July 24. Delhivery will have a week to submit a rejoinder, after the filing of the carrier’s reply.

Go First, in its voluntary insolvency resolution application filed under Section 10 of the IBC, had stated that it could no longer meet its financial obligations, blaming US company Pratt & Whitney’s “faulty engines” for grounding 50% of its fleet. The petition was accepted on May 10.

Earlier this week, aircraft lessor Jackson Square Aviation Ireland Ltd and lessor of engines Engine Lease Finance (ELF) BV had filed applications in the Go First matter, claiming that they had terminated contracts with Go First on May 3, prior to the acceptance of Go First’s Section 10 application on May 10. Both appealed to the court that the moratorium on the airline’s assets, imposed after the voluntary insolvency petition was admitted, should not apply to the leased assets. Jackson Square leased eight aircraft to Go First. Go First has 54 leased aircraft.

In another application filed by BOC Aviation (Ireland) Ltd, which provides aircraft leasing services, on June 5, the court passed directions for a copy of the application to be made available to the IRP. All these matters have been listed for June 15.

Senior counsel appearing for the IRP in the ELF BV case said the committee of creditors (CoC) will meet to deliberate on the matter in a few days.