No Further Approval Needed for Kapoor to be Jet Airways CEO: JKC to Resolution Professional
Jan. 10—NEW DELHI — The appointment of Sanjiv Kapoor as the chief executive officer designate of Jet Airways requires no further approval from any statutory authority, the winning bidder of the airline, Jalan-Kalrock consortium, has said in writing to resolution professional Ashish Chhawchharia.
The consortium has requested the resolution professional to share a copy of relevant minutes of the meeting where the monitoring committee decided to issue a letter to Kapoor, refraining him from using the designation of CEO of Jet Airways.
Jalan-Kalrock consortium has employed Kapoor and other employees on its payroll on the advice of lenders as the banks were not agreeable to new employees joining the payrolls of Jet Airways before the transfer of ownership, the letter dated 10 January read.
"In the event there exists no monitoring committee resolution which authorises you to write to Mr Kapoor, your letter under reference shall be considered as null and void and you are advised to refrain from communicating on behalf of Jet Airways until authorised by all required members of the monitoring committee," the letter from representatives of Jalan-Kalrock consortium said.
The monitoring committee of Jet Airways had sent a notice on 28 December to Sanjiv Kapoor over the use of CEO as his designation.
As the ownership of the airline has still not been transferred to the winning bidder Jalan-Kalrock consortium, the monitoring committee had objected to the statements made by Kapoor as CEO of the airline and had said in the notice that these statements can be misrepresented.
The notice had added that Kapoor's tenure as the CEO of the airline will only commence once his appointment is approved and once the transfer of ownership is complete, adding that until the transfer, the monitoring committee is overseeing the airline.
The Jalan-Kalrock consortium had appointed Kapoor as CEO in March 2022 and he joined the airline in April 2022. He had received security clearance from the government in August 2022. Kapoor has earlier worked as chief strategy and commercial officer at Air Vistara and chief operating officer of SpiceJet. His last stint was as president of Oberoi Hotels & Resorts.
Currently, a crucial National Company Law Tribunal order is expected to provide clarity on whether the winning bidder has met the conditions to get the ownership of the airline.
On 22 June 2021, the tribunal in its order had approved the resolution plan submitted by the Jalan-Kalrock consortium, subject to necessary approvals. The consortium consists of UAE-based non-resident Indian Murari Lal Jalan who will hold shares in Jet Airways in his personal capacity and Florian Fritsch who will hold shares through his investment holding company Kalrock Capital Partners Ltd, Cayman. However, the lenders and resolution applicants have been at loggerheads on the terms of the implementation of the resolution plan.
So far, the consortium has deposited bank guarantees worth INR150 crore with the lenders, but the lenders are of the view that the winning bidder has been unsuccessful in making cash payment of INR185 crore to financial creditors within 180 days from the effective date. The effective date in this case is the date of fulfilment of all the conditions and is believed to be 20 May.
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