Jet staff move NCLAT against resolution plan
Employees of the now grounded Jet Airways have approached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) challenging the Kalrock-jalan consortium’s offer under the resolution plan.
Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (BKS) and Jet Airways Cabin Crew Association had on Wednesday filed an appeal against the National Company Law Tribunal’s June 22 order approving the resolution plan. The unions said the plan failed to protect workers’ interests and violates labour laws.
While Jet Airways had admitted claims of around ~15,000 crore, the consortium
offered to settle claims of ~475 crore of financial and nonfinancial creditors. Employee claims worth ~1,265 crore were admitted and the consortium proposed ~52 crore to settle their claims.
Additionally, the consortium offered cash and no-cash benefits, including a 0.5 per cent equity stake in the airline, to those employees and workmen who were on the rolls of the company when it went into insolvency in June 2019. These benefits would be shared only if 95 per cent of employees give their consent.
However, of the 8,973 eligible employees, only 35.1 per cent voted in favour of the offer, while 61.6 per cent abstained from voting. As a consequence, the proposal has lapsed, the consortium informed employees.
Meanwhile, the unions said the core principle of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was to protect the interests of all stakeholders but the resolution plan didn’t protect workers’ interests and, instead, jeopardised them.