SC Dismisses Go First Airlines’ Appeal Against Delhi HC Aircraft Access Order

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the appeal by Go First Airlines against the Delhi High Court order which granted aircraft lessors access to the aircraft that they had leased to the airline.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra emphasized that Go First Airlines had already presented its arguments before a single judge of the High Court. Consequently, there was no valid reason to impede the ongoing proceedings before that judge.

Furthermore, since the petitions before the High Court were being addressed on a daily basis, the Court declined to entertain the plea. It also directed the petitioners to address jurisdictional matters before the single judge.

The apex court was hearing a plea by Go First Airlines challenging a Division Bench order of the Delhi High Court, which had upheld directives permitting aircraft lessors to access the airline’s planes.

On July 5, a single judge of the High Court issued an interim order allowing aircraft lessors access to the planes they had leased to Go First Airlines. The single judge had also authorized the lessors to conduct maintenance work on the planes.

Subsequently, Go First Airlines challenged this order before a Division Bench of the High Court. Although the Division Bench refrained from intervening, it instructed the single judge to promptly decide the matter.

The Division Bench revised one of the directives, indicating that Go First Airlines could undertake all maintenance tasks for the aircraft, including their engines and various components.

Consequently, Go First Airlines filed the present appeal before the Supreme Court.

The issue arose when numerous aircraft lessors approached the High Court, asserting that their applications for the de-registration of their aircraft had been rejected by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The argument was that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) lacked relevant provisions to address cases related to de-registration. As a result, even bankruptcy tribunals lacked the competence to hear their pleas.

These applications were filed after Go First Airlines had approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Delhi to initiate the corporate insolvency resolution process under the IBC.

On May 10, the NCLT Delhi accepted the plea, implementing a moratorium for the company. The tribunal also directed the suspended board of directors to cooperate with the Interim Resolution Professional to ensure that there were no layoffs.

The NCLT’s decision to commence insolvency proceedings was upheld by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in an order pronounced on May 22.