NCLT Orders Liquidation of Go First

NCLT Declares Go First Liquidation

On Monday, the Bar and Bench reported that the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has ordered Go First Airways to be liquidated, following a request from the airline’s Committee of Creditors (CoC).

The NCLT bench, consisting of Judicial Member Mahendra Khandelwal and Technical Member Dr. Sanjeev Ranjan, confirmed the decision: “Liquidation is ordered.”

On May 2, 2023, Go First voluntarily sought admission to the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) under Section 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted this plea on May 10 and appointed a Resolution Professional (RP) to oversee the airline’s operations. Subsequently, the airline’s lessors appealed to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), contesting the moratorium that barred them from reclaiming assets despite lease terminations before the process began. On May 22, 2023, the NCLAT affirmed the NCLT’s decision and instructed lessors to request clarification regarding the moratorium.

Later, the lessors turned to the Delhi High Court to seek deregistration of the aircraft. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) initially resisted this due to the moratorium. However, on October 4, 2023, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs clarified that Section 14(1) of the IBC did not apply to transactions involving aircraft and related assets. Following this, the DGCA concurred, and by early May 2024, Go First’s fleet was successfully deregistered, with maintenance and export responsibilities for the aircraft handed over to the lessors.

By September 2024, facing a lack of aircraft and viable revival options, the CoC chose to liquidate the airline and filed the necessary application. The NCLT bench had previously expressed concerns about appointing Shailendra Ajmera as the liquidator but later approved Dinkar Venkatasubramanian as the official liquidator. The CoC was represented by advocate Vishnu Sriram, and advocate Diwakar Maheshwari represented the Resolution Professional.