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Freeze on airline operating escrow account extended

Special Correspondent

Next hearing in Lucknow court on June 30


  • Air Sahara allowed to file rejoinder
  • Jet Airways' counsel says only Bombay High Court has jurisdiction to decide case
  • Cause of action is in Lucknow: Sahara counsel

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    LUCKNOW: The legal tussle between Jet Airways and Air Sahara remained inconclusive on Friday with the Lucknow district court fixing the next hearing for June 30.

    The Rs. 2,300-crore deal for takeover of Air Sahara by Jet Airways fell through late Wednesday.

    The June 21 stay, granted on a petition by Sahara, on Jet Airwaysoperating a Rs. 1,500-crore Escrow account with ICICI Bank would continue till July 1. It was also restrained from selling Sahara's shares worth Rs. 500 crore till July 1.

    The court allowed Air Sahara to submit by June 28 a rejoinder to Jet Airways' objection, which was filed when the proceedings began on Friday.

    District judge Shiv Charan Sharma issued the interim order, after hearing arguments on the maintainability of Sahara's petition and whether the Lucknow court had the jurisdiction to hear the case.

    Jet Airways counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi maintained that only the Bombay High Court had the jurisdiction to decide the case as a petition filed by his client on June 20 was pending disposal there.

    The petition was filed the same day Air Sahara filed its petition in the Lucknow court.Mr. Singhvi quoted Section 42 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, and cited rulings of the Calcutta and Rajasthan High Courts on the jurisdiction of courts to press Jet Airways' case for transfer of the Sahara petition to the Bombay High Court.

    Counsel for Sahara Dushyant Dave said the agreement between the two airlines was executed in Lucknow when Jet Airways chairman and managing director Naresh Goyal and 20 of his senior executives flew in a Sahara aircraft to the city. Subsequently a dispute arose over the accord.

    As the cause of action was in Lucknow and as Sahara was a Lucknow-based company, the district court was the court of original jurisdiction under Sections 15 and 20 of the Civil Procedure Code.

    Claiming that the agreement between the airlines was "subsisting," Mr. Dave said the future of Sahara and 4,000 of its employees hung in the balance and if the agreement failed Jet would "run away" with the money.

    He said Sahara's market share had come down by five per cent in the last five months since the agreement was signed on January 18, 2006.

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