Air Sahara touches down SC ahead of Jet

Mumbai: Air Sahara has filed a caveat in the Supreme Court to prevent Jet Airways from securing an ex-parte order on its petition seeking transfer of all cases to the apex court. The petition urges that nothing should be done in the matter without any notice to it.

Jet Airways, which on Tuesday said it would file a petition seeking transfer of all cases pending in Lucknow court and the Bombay High Court, is expected to have done so later in the day.

Sahara had moved the district court in Lucknow on June 21 and sought an interim stay on operation of the escrow account and followed it up with another injunction on the sale of shares pledged by it to Jet for an advance of Rs 500 crore. The case is expected to come up for hearing on June 30.

Jet Airways on Tuesday had described the collapse of its Rs 2,300 crore deal to acquire Air Sahara as 'unfortunate' and blamed it on 'vested interests'. It also said the decision not to salvage the pact was based on purely 'commercial considerations' and that it was moving the Supreme Court to avoid the inconvenience of litigation in different courts.

Civil aviation minister Praful Patel, meanwhile, said the government's merger and acquisition policy for the civil aviation sector was not tailor-made to suit any airline but based on the best international practices. He was replying to a statement by Jet Airways in which the airline had indicated that delays in the framing of policies and granting clearances had led to the collapse of the deal.

"The policy cannot be tailor-made to suit any particular airline. The gGovernment is very clear on this issue. The policy that is broadly in place is based on best international models and practices," he told reporters in New Delhi.