Will Jet, Sahara settle dispute amicably?

The Bombay High Court on Thursday gave Jet Airways and Sahara Group one last chance to amicably resolve a payment dispute over acquisition of Sahara Airlines by Jet, but if they squander this opportunity the court would step in with its ruling on July 15.

Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud said both parties are being given a final chance to sit across the table and arrive at a consensus by July 15.

Earlier, the High Court had given an opportunity to both sides to settle their dispute, but Jet and Sahara have so far not been able to meet formally for thrashing out differences over the deal, although sources said talks between senior executives had failed to yield any solution.

Jet's counsel Janak Dwarkadas informed the court on Thursday that both sides were keen to resolve the dispute. "We are willing to sit across the table and fix it up," he said.

The court took on record an order passed by Income Tax Tribunal reducing the tax liability of JetLite, erstwhile Sahara Airlines, from Rs 820 crore (Rs 8.2 billion) to Rs 380 crore (Rs 3.8 billion).

SICCL had in March filed a petition, claiming that the Naresh Goyal-owned airline had defaulted on the instalment amount due as payment for acquisition of Sahara Airlines, now JetLite, hence it was liable to pay original deal amount of Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) and not re-negotiated amount of Rs 1,450 crore (Rs 14.50 billion).