The Delhi High Court has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) why the deregistration request of some lessors of Go First was rejected, while it was put on hold for others citing moratorium.
On Wednesday, the Bench stated that during the arguments the lessors alleged that the DGCA’s website showed that the request of some of the Go First lessors has been rejected, while the request of some of the lessors has been kept on hold. Anjana Gosain, the lawyer appearing for DGCA, stated that no application for repossession was processed on account of the airline going into moratorium on May 10.
The Delhi High Court has directed the DGCA to provide relevant documents explaining the situation regarding aircraft lessors’ applications for repossession. This request is scheduled to be addressed on June 1. The court anticipates that the aircraft lessors will respond to the arguments presented by the DGCA and the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) the following day. Given the court’s upcoming summer vacation starting on June 2, the case may be reserved for judgment.
On May 26, the aircraft lessors claimed that the denial of deregistration by the DGCA was unjustified. Their legal representatives stated that they had approached the civil aviation regulator to request the deregistration of their aircraft, but their requests were rejected.
The DGCA informed the court on May 24 that the applications from aircraft lessors to repossess their planes had not been officially rejected but were put on hold due to the ongoing moratorium.
Various aircraft lessors filed a writ with the Delhi High Court seeking instructions to release the aircraft leased to the financially troubled airline. They requested the court to direct the DGCA to deregister the aircraft currently leased to Go First.
However, the IRP representing Go First argued that the Delhi High Court does not have jurisdiction to decide on the plea made by aircraft lessors. In response to requests from lessors to repossess planes from Go First, the DGCA has temporarily suspended the processing of these requests, citing the airline’s bankruptcy proceedings and the resulting freeze on assets.