The Bombay High Court has rejected an urgent plea from the Wadia Group seeking to prevent Bank of Baroda from enforcing a corporate guarantee of ₹500 crore provided by one of its group companies at the request of Go First Airlines.
Nowrosjee Wadia & Sons Ltd (NWS) had approached the court seeking a temporary injunction to restrain Bank of Baroda from making the demand. The Wadia Group also sought to prevent the lender from taking further action in accordance with the law following such invocation, arguing that the corporate guarantee had expired as the condition of a tie-up of ₹2,835 crore was met by the borrower in January 2020.
Justice Manish Pitale, in his order on March 28, stated that since the bank had indicated that it could only proceed with such demands by initiating legal proceedings in accordance with the law, there was no justification for urgent interim relief by NWS. The court has scheduled a hearing on the matter for May 7.
Before the court’s decision, senior counsel Navroz Seervai, representing the Wadia Group, argued that the bank might invoke provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, potentially resulting in adverse orders against the applicant.
A spokesperson for the Wadia Group stated, “The matter is sub judice, and therefore we are unable to comment on this issue.” Nishit Dhruva, representing Bank of Baroda, declined to comment, citing the ongoing legal proceedings.
