Jet, Sahara top brass confabulate to face legal actions
Within hours of the mega deal to acquire Air Sahara by Jet Airways for Rs 2,300 crore collapsing, the two sides swung into action to minimise damages in the face of legal actions initiated by both.
By PTI |
NEW DELHI: Within hours of the mega deal to acquire Air Sahara by Jet Airways for Rs 2,300 crore collapsing, the two sides swung into action to minimise damages in the face of legal actions initiated by both.
Top brass of the two airlines were huddled in long meetings and engaged in consultations with legal experts to deal with the cases filed by them in Mumbai and Lucknow courts.
Air Sahara President Alok Sharma on Thursday took effective charge of the aviation operations, which till midnight was under the charge of Jet Airways.
Immediately after taking charge, Sharma held a series of meetings with heads of departments of the airline to restore normalcy in the operations, which were in a state of flux.
A Sahara spokesperson told media that "We have resumed charge of Air Sahara after the expiry of the deadline for transaction and have started operations on our own".
Sharma, who had gone to Delhi Airport this morning to oversee the operations and boost employees' confidence, told reporters "I see energy and enthusiasm among the people behind the counters ... Absolutely new freshness in them... If at all I see something, I am seeing something positive."
While Air Sahara this afternoon filed a caveat in the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court as a preventive step to guard against any ex-parte hearing or order in the case, Jet Counsel Rajesh Tiwari told media in Lucknow that they had not moved the High Court and would appear before the lower court as the former had approached the District Court.
Meanwhile, Air Sahara President Alok Sharma, who took over charge after his predecessor Rono J Dutta quit two days ago, focussed on proper scheduling of flights, ensuring deployment of aircraft and duty allocation, especially of cabin and cockpit crew.
Most of the officials on both sides were tight-lipped about the ongoing battle.
The collapse of the biggest deal in the Indian civil aviation sector after over five months of its announcement meant Air Sahara was back on its own thus restoring its management control, which was being virtually run by Jet for the past few months, to Subroto Roy's Sahara Group.
While there was no formal announcement from Jet Airways as the deadline for the deal passed, Air Sahara President Alok Sharma had told reporters in New Delhi late in the night that if there was no response from the rival carrier, Sahara group would take back control of Air Sahara operations.
"Wish us luck, Air Sahara is on its own from tomorrow," Sharma told reporters.
Sahara had offered to extend the deadline for completing the transaction by 15 days but ruled out renegotiating the deal value, which Jet wanted to be reduced by 10-20 per cent.
Absence of regulatory clearances had also played spoilsport with the deal, for completion of which Sahara had insisted that Jet needs to have "requisite clearances."
While four Jet directors secured clearance to join Sahara's Board, Jet chief Naresh Goyal had failed to get the go ahead from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Top brass of the two airlines were huddled in long meetings and engaged in consultations with legal experts to deal with the cases filed by them in Mumbai and Lucknow courts.
Air Sahara President Alok Sharma on Thursday took effective charge of the aviation operations, which till midnight was under the charge of Jet Airways.
Immediately after taking charge, Sharma held a series of meetings with heads of departments of the airline to restore normalcy in the operations, which were in a state of flux.
A Sahara spokesperson told media that "We have resumed charge of Air Sahara after the expiry of the deadline for transaction and have started operations on our own".
Sharma, who had gone to Delhi Airport this morning to oversee the operations and boost employees' confidence, told reporters "I see energy and enthusiasm among the people behind the counters ... Absolutely new freshness in them... If at all I see something, I am seeing something positive."
ADVERTISEMENT
While Air Sahara this afternoon filed a caveat in the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court as a preventive step to guard against any ex-parte hearing or order in the case, Jet Counsel Rajesh Tiwari told media in Lucknow that they had not moved the High Court and would appear before the lower court as the former had approached the District Court.
Meanwhile, Air Sahara President Alok Sharma, who took over charge after his predecessor Rono J Dutta quit two days ago, focussed on proper scheduling of flights, ensuring deployment of aircraft and duty allocation, especially of cabin and cockpit crew.
Most of the officials on both sides were tight-lipped about the ongoing battle.
The collapse of the biggest deal in the Indian civil aviation sector after over five months of its announcement meant Air Sahara was back on its own thus restoring its management control, which was being virtually run by Jet for the past few months, to Subroto Roy's Sahara Group.
ADVERTISEMENT
While there was no formal announcement from Jet Airways as the deadline for the deal passed, Air Sahara President Alok Sharma had told reporters in New Delhi late in the night that if there was no response from the rival carrier, Sahara group would take back control of Air Sahara operations.
"Wish us luck, Air Sahara is on its own from tomorrow," Sharma told reporters.
ADVERTISEMENT
Sahara had offered to extend the deadline for completing the transaction by 15 days but ruled out renegotiating the deal value, which Jet wanted to be reduced by 10-20 per cent.
Absence of regulatory clearances had also played spoilsport with the deal, for completion of which Sahara had insisted that Jet needs to have "requisite clearances."
While four Jet directors secured clearance to join Sahara's Board, Jet chief Naresh Goyal had failed to get the go ahead from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Start a SIP with as low as ₹500 with ET Money App!
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
ADVERTISEMENT
