HC grants time to Jet, Sahara to file affidavits

The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted two months time to Jet Airways and Air Sahara for filing affidavits with regard to the dispute over the multi-crore take-over deal.

Both the parties sought time to file additional affidavits following which the court deferred the case for further hearing to January 19.

Sahara had in March filed a petition claiming that the Naresh Goyal-owned airline had defaulted on the installment amount due as payment for acquisition of Sahara Airlines, now JetLite. Hence, it was liable to pay the original deal amount of Rs 2,000 crore and not the re-negotiated amount of Rs 1,450 crore.

Sahara contended that Jet had not paid the installments in full, while Jet claimed that it had paid an amount of Rs 100 crore as the first installment, deducting Rs 37.50 crore as tax dues. In the second installment, it deducted another Rs 50 crore.

This was done after the Income-Tax Department raised a tax demand of Rs 107 crore on the then Sahara Airlines, which, Jet claimed, is for a period prior to its takeover of Sahara.