Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the aviation watchdog, was ordered by the Delhi High Court on Friday to handle deregistration requests for planes leased by grounded airline Go First, which is going through bankruptcy procedures, within five working days. Additionally, the Resolution Professional’s request to have the injunction stay in effect for a week was denied by Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju. The DGCA’s May 2023 communications, which had placed lessors’ deregistration applications on hold because Go First had entered a moratorium, were also invalidated by the court.
The RP is prohibited from using the aircraft going forward and is required by the court’s order to give the lessors up-to-date maintenance information. In addition to Ajay Singh, the chairman and managing director of SpiceJet, and Busy Bee Airways Private Ltd., Sky One, a Sharjah-based aviation firm, had also put in a proposal for GoFirst. But the results of the bidding have not yet been announced. In compliance with the court’s orders, Skyone Chairman Jaideep Mirchandani asserted that the de-registration had no bearing on their intentions for the Indian aviation sector or their bid for Go First.
“As we are seasoned lessors, if our bid is accepted, Sky One can bring in its own assets to run and revitalize the airline,” he declared.
The RP of Go First was previously requested by the high court to submit an affidavit in response to a lessor’s plea seeking a contempt action, on the grounds that the RP had disregarded the court’s directive permitting the aircraft to be inspected and maintained. The court granted aircraft lessors permission in October of last year to hire security guards around-the-clock to protect their parked aircraft for many months. On July 5, 2023, the court granted the lessors permission to perform maintenance and inspections on their aircraft at least twice a month in an interim order.
In October, Justice Ganju requested that Go First’s RP provide its lessors with records pertaining to the upkeep of airplanes, engines, and airframes. She had issued a warning that if compliance is not attained, more measures may be required and stated that court decisions must be obeyed in letter and spirit. Lessor DAE (SY 22) 13 Ireland Designated Activity Company had petitioned the RP for contempt, alleging improper maintenance of the aircraft, failure to submit necessary documentation, and denial of court-mandated inspections. Similar concerns had been brought up by a number of other lessors during the hearing.
