Jet RP, Dutch court administrator to help in insolvency

Jet Airways’ resolution professional (RP) and a Dutch courtappointed administrator on Friday informed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) that they would cooperate with each other in the insolvency proceedings of the debtladen airline.

The Committee of Creditors (COC) of the airline objected to the presence of the Dutch court insolvency administrator during the meetings, but the appellate tribunal rejected the contention.

“He should be there… he has to collate his claims. Both sides should go together…he must be there for maximisation of value of assets,” NCLAT Chairperson Justice S J Mukhopadhaya said.

Apart from India, Jet is facing insolvency proceedings in the Netherlands, which is a regional hub for the European operations of the airline. The airline was declared bankrupt in the Netherlands in response to a complaint filed by two European creditors, H Esser Finance Company and Wallenborn Transport, who had claimed unpaid dues worth ~280 crore.

Following this, the insolvency administrators had approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) with a plea that they should be allowed to access the firm’s assets in India, too, which would enable them to recover monies to pay off the two European creditors. The NCLT had rejected the Dutch administrator’s plea for being heard in the case, following which they had approached the appellate tribunal.

The NCLAT had, while agreeing to hear the Dutch court administrator, also stayed a portion of the NCLT Mumbai Bench’s order that held that Dutch administrator’s offshore proceeding were not maintainable and hence, they could not be allowed to access the airline’s financial assets in India.

Jet is facing insolvency proceedings in the Netherlands, which is a regional hub for the Euro operations of the airline