Court accepts closure report against Jet promoter Goyal

Mumbai: A metropolitan court here on Tuesday accepted the closure report filed by Mumbai police in a cheating case against Jet Airways, which has been grounded since April last year, its promoter Naresh Goyal and his wife.

The order came a day after theBombay High Court rejected a plea of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is also probing the case, to intervene into the matter.

Earlier, a similar plea by the ED had been rejected by the metropolitan court and a sessions court here.

The MRA Marg police here in February this year registered a case against the Jet Airways, Goyal and his wife on charges of cheating and criminal beach of trust, on a complaint filed by city-based Akbar Travels India Private Limited (ATIPL).

The ATIPL alleged that they were cheated of Rs 46 crore by the Goyals.

The police filed the closure report in March, saying they have not found any evidence of the complainant being cheated.

The ATIPL later filed a petition against the closure.

However, a chief metropolitan magistrate on Tuesday rejected the petition of the ATIPL and accepted the police''s closure report.

ATIPL''s lawyer Dharmesh Joshi said they will decide on future course of action after going through the detail order.

The ED is also conducting a probe against the Goyals and the severely indebted Jet Airways under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

Meanwhile, on December 7, 2020 the consortium of UAE-based businessman Murari Lal Jalan and London's Kalrock Capital - which has won the bid to revive Jet Airways - said it expects to start operating the airline by the summer of 2021.

The consortium is awaiting the NCLT and other regulatory approvals, including reinstatement of slots and bilateral traffic rights by the civil aviation ministry and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

It is also planning to launch dedicated freighter services once the carrier takes off the ground again.

The committee of creditors (CoC) has already approved the airline's revival plan submitted by the consortium in October.

Jet Airways was grounded on April 17 due to liquidity crisis and subsequently went into administration in June 2019.

As per the resolution plan, Jet Airways intends to operate all of its historic domestic slots in India and restart international operations.

The Jet 2.0 program is aimed at reviving the past glory of Jet Airways, with a fresh set of processes and systems to ensure greater efficiency and productivity across all routes.

"If everything goes as per plan and the Consortium receives the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) and regulatory approvals on time, Jet Airways would be back in the skies by the Summer of 2021," the consortium said in a release.