The Bombay high court on Friday allowed private carrier Jet Airways to withdraw Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) deposited by it for acquiring rival Air Sahara.
"Jet will have the right to withdraw Rs 1,500 crore against bank guarantee of the same amount," Justice D K Deshmukh said in his order.
The amount in the escrow account will go to Jet and the interest will go to Air Sahara.
The escrow account formalities will be decided by an arbitration tribunal.
The Bombay high court verdict gives some temporary relief to Jet Airways.
The dispute related to the failed Rs 2,300 crore (Rs 23 billion) deal for takeover of Air Sahara by Jet Airways.
As part of the deal, reached in January this year, Jet had paid Rs 180 crore (Rs 1.80 billion) for revival of Air Sahara and Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) in lieu of Air Sahara shares pledged with it. It had also deposited Rs 1,500
After the deal fell through on June 21, Sahara had moved a court in Lucknow seeking to bar Jet from operating the escrow account.
The Bombay high court had on Thursday decided that it had the jurisdiction to adjudicate on the dispute between Jet and Air Sahara over the failed takeover deal and would hear all the four petitions filed by the two companies.
The Supreme Court had in August transferred two petitions filed by Sahara in a Lucknow court to Bombay high court, while Jet had already filed two separate petitions before it.
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