Jet Airways: Madnani at the Kalrock board, and the collapse of the Jalan-Kalrock bid

What Madnani’s role was

Manoj Madnani sat on the board of Kalrock Capital, the London-based half of the Jalan Kalrock Consortium. He was also the consortium’s voice in the Indian press. Speaking to CNBC-TV18 after JKC was declared the winning bidder for the grounded airline, he said:

“I want to thank the CoC and the RP for running a thorough and stringent process, which was much appreciated. I also want to thank all the stakeholders of Jet Airways who have supported us throughout this process. We are really excited about this because India is destined to be the third-largest aviation market globally.”

That is the extent of his documented role in the public record: a director of one consortium member, and its spokesperson at the moment of the award.

What went wrong, and to whom

The difficulties that followed attached to Kalrock’s promoter, not to Madnani.

Florian Fritsch, who promotes Kalrock Capital, became the subject of a fraud and money-laundering investigation in Liechtenstein. In September 2023 BW Businessworld reported that the principality’s Supreme Court had refused an appeal to unfreeze assets seized from him: seven Porsche cars, five Rolex watches and a classic car simulator valued at up to USD 214,000. Chief Prosecutor Robert Wallner said the investigation was advancing but needed more time, and that appeals by the suspects had kept many seized documents out of prosecutors’ hands.

Three weeks later, on 4 October 2023, the airline’s Committee of Creditors took the matter before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal. Additional Solicitor General N Venkatraman, for the lenders, said the money deposited by the consortium could have been laundered. The creditors said JKC’s source of money was doubtful and had arrived from several accounts, and raised their concerns about Fritsch directly.

The consortium’s answer

JKC denied it. Senior advocate Krishnendu Dutta, appearing for the consortium, told the tribunal that the majority of the money had been paid by Murari Lal Jalan and that all funds had been transferred in accordance with the approved resolution plan. He said the creditors had raised the allegations because they did not want to transfer ownership of the airline. JKC issued a separate statement questioning the lenders’ intent.

The consortium had announced the previous week that it had paid Rs 350 crore to the lenders towards the airline’s revival.

How it ended

On 7 November 2024 the Supreme Court of India ordered Jet Airways into liquidation and set aside the NCLAT’s approval of the takeover. The airline had last flown on 17 April 2019.

What this file does not say

No source cited on this page makes any allegation against Manoj Madnani personally. The money-laundering allegation before the NCLAT was made by counsel for an adverse party in contested litigation and was denied on the record. The Liechtenstein investigation concerns Florian Fritsch. Madnani’s documented position is that of a board member and spokesperson of one consortium member.