The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) heard pleas by engine and aircraft lessors of Go First, who are seeking an interim relief from court to inspect planes and engines and deferred the matter till August 4.
During the hearing, senior advocate Arun Kathpalia, who appeared on behalf of one of the lessors, argued that the Delhi HC order to grant access to lessors to their 30 parked aircraft is binding on the tribunal and on the Indian civil aviation regulator DGCA. The counsel cited the country’s aviation regulatory framework and Cape Town Convention to convince the court that an airline cannot fly the aircraft after the termination of the lease agreement.
The Delhi high court, in an interim order on Wednesday, directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and airport authorities to allow Go First’s lessors’ representatives and officers to inspect the 30 parked aircraft within the next three days.
The NCLT matter has now been rescheduled to 4 August and the tribunal has given three weeks time to lessors and the resolution professional to file an additional affidavit and rejoinder in the matter.
Low-cost carrier Go First is expected to challenge the Delhi High Court’s order dated 5 July whereby the lessors were granted access to the grounded aircraft for maintenance, the lawyer appearing for Resolution Professional Shailendra Ajmera told the NCLT today.
According to the lessors, the rules dictate that there must be a lease agreement in place for a valid licence and for registration of an aircraft. In the absence of a valid lease agreement, the lessors said that the deregistration can be filed and within five days, the aircraft has to be sent back to the lessor.
In order to reiterate the current maintenance scenario of the aircraft, the lessors also showed the photographs of the parked aircraft to the court and claimed that they are not properly maintained.
The resolution professional also informed the committee of creditors is ready to release interim funding of ₹450 crore to revive the airline and a special committee of experts has been formed by DGCA for assessing the readiness of the airline for resumption of flights.
In its latest plan submitted to the DGCA, the airline has said that it can recommence approximately 160 daily flight operations with 26 aircraft, Mint has learnt.
Out of the 26 aircraft, nearly four aircraft are to be kept in reserve to be prepared for a backup plan in case there are issues related to technical glitches in any of the operational aircraft.
The three-day DGCA audit to grant approvals to Go First to restart operations ends on Thursday and the final approval may come as early as next week.
