New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday made it clear that an interim order passed by a Lucknow court restraining Jet Airways from demanding and/or receiving Rs. 1,500 crores, deposited in the escrow account in the ICICI Bank and an injunction restraining the bank from releasing the said amount would continue until further orders.

A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Justice C.K. Thakker and Justice R.V. Raveendran passed this order on transfer petitions filed by Jet Airways and others seeking transfer of an arbitration petition filed by Sahara India Commercial Corporation before a District Court in Lucknow to the Bombay High Court.

The petition before the Lucknow court was filed after the Rs. 2,300 crore takeover deal failed. The Bench, however, stayed all further proceedings pending before the Lucknow court and the Bombay High Court. The Bench issued notice to Sahara and others asking them to file counter in two weeks, rejoinder a week thereafter and directing listing of the cases for further hearing after three weeks.

Transfer petition

In the transfer petition Jet said that it had filed an arbitration petition in the Bombay High Court on June 20 and on the same day Sahara filed an application in a Lucknow district court. On June 21, the District Judge passed an interim order restraining Jet from demanding and/or receiving Rs. 1,500 crores, deposited in the escrow account in ICICI Bank and an injunction restraining the bank from releasing the said amount. On June 23, the District Judge passed another interim order restraining Jet from enforcing the pledge agreement.

Jet maintained that it had initiated the first proceedings in Mumbai. Further the Lucknow court did not have any jurisdiction to entertain the matter. Even otherwise as per the agreement the place of arbitration was in Mumbai. They raised the plea of jurisdiction in the Lucknow court but the Judge without deciding the question of jurisdiction had passed the two interim orders.

The petition said the purported exercise of jurisdiction by the District Judge had resulted in serious miscarriage of justice and the petitioner would continue to suffer grave and irreparable harm, loss and prejudice if the case was not transferred to Mumbai. While seeking a transfer of the case to the Bombay High Court, the petitioner sought stay of the operation of the two interim orders passed by the Lucknow District Judge.

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