Delhi High Court allows TWC Aviation Capital to take possession of two aircraft leased to SpiceJet

The Delhi High Court recently allowed TWC Aviation Capital Limited to take charge of two aircraft leased to SpiceJet in view of the latter's failure to pay lease rent dues to TWC [TWC Aviation Capital Ltd v SpiceJet Ltd]..The Court said that the officials of TWC could inspect the aircraft mainframes, which are currently parked at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi and a hangar in the Chennai Airport, although they are not to be moved until further orders. "The same may be inspected by a team of officials of the Plaintiff (TWC) who may take charge of the said aircrafts/ frames, even if sans the engines. The same shall, however, not be moved till further orders of this Court. The officials of the Plaintiff shall act as receivers of the Court and maintain them," the Court said. .Justice Pratibha M Singh passed the interim order on April 5 on a suit filed by TWC Aviation to enforce two orders passed in March by a court in the United Kingdom (UK) directing SpiceJet to return the leased aircraft to TWC. "In keeping with the principles of Comity of Courts as also the admitted position being that a substantial sum of money is due from the Defendant to the Plaintiff, this Court is of the opinion that the Aircrafts and the engines deserve to be secured," Justice Singh held. .The Court was also told that three engines from the leased aircraft were removed and being used in other aircraft. The Court, therefore, ordered that the status quo be maintained with respect to these engines. "It is made clear that the status of the said engines shall not be changed till the next date before this Court.".Further, SpiceJet's counsel was directed to get instructions on how the airline would compensate TWC Aviation for using the engines in other aircraft and how it proposes to return the engines to TWC. .The matter will be heard next on May 8. .By way of background, TWC Aviation Capital claimed ownership over two Boeing 737-800 aircraft along with three aircraft engines, which were leased to SpiceJet.According to TWC, an aircraft lease agreement dated May 27, 2019 was entered into by TWC and SpiceJet for leasing these aircraft for 12 months at a basic rent of $180,000 per month.TWC alleged that SpiceJet failed to make lease rental payments. Various amendments were later made to the agreement to accommodate payment difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, SpiceJet breached the amended agreement as well, the Court was told. .TWC eventually initiated legal proceedings in London before a UK Court designated as the jurisdictional court in the agreement between TWC and SpiceJet. The UK Court passed two orders in favour of TWC in March 2024. By one of these orders, SpiceJet was ordered to handover the leased aircraft and engines to TWC.When Spicejet failed to comply with the UK Court orders, TWC approached the Delhi High Court by filing a suit, in which the Indian court was urged to enforce the UK Court's orders. SpiceJet opposed the maintainability of this suit and argued that the appropriate course of action would be to file an execution petition and not a suit. .The Delhi High Court, however, opined that the suit was maintainable and proceeded to grant interim relief in favour of TWC."Prima facie, the orders passed by the UK court are enforceable in these proceedings in terms of Section 13 read with Section 44A of the CPC. The Defendant (SpiceJet) has already had an opportunity to defend itself in the UK Courts," the Court noted..Senior Advocate Ashish Dholakia along with advocates Ravi Nath, Ankur Mahindro, Rohan Taneja, Aditya Kapur, Siddhant, Abhijit Mittal and Ankesh Tripathi appeared for TWC Aviation Capital Limited. Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi along with advocates KR Sasiprabhu, Kartikeya Asthana, Sumer Dev Seth and Riya Kumar appeared for SpiceJet..[Read Order]