Under the agreement, KAL and Maran were to receive redeemable warrants and preference shares in return for the Rs 679 crore, which they spent on SpiceJet.
In 2017, Maran approached Delhi HC and claimed that neither the convertible warrants nor the preference shares were issued, nor was the money returned.
An arbitration panel in 2018 rejected Maran’s claim of damages of Rs 1,323 crore for not issuing warrants to him and KAL Airways, but awarded him a refund of Rs 579 crore with an interest component. Since then, the case has appeared several times in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court.
In May 2024, SpiceJet said that it strongly refute the claims made by KAL Airways and Kalanithi Maran regarding seeking damages of Rs 1323 crore.
The statement by SpiceJet came after media baron Maran and his KAL Airways said that they would seek more than Rs 1,323 crore in damages from SpiceJet and its chief Ajay Singh. Maran and KAL had challenged Delhi High Court order, which was in favour of SpiceJet.