Mumbai, Aug. 17 -- Debt-laden carrier SpiceJet stumped the insolvency court on Monday when it said it had paid $500,000 to one of the eight lessors, prompting the bench to question why the airline had not paid dues to the rest.

The National Company Law Tribunal's (NCLT) special bench came down heavily on the airline for making the disclosure on the judgment day, saying the court's time had been "wasted". In an oral order, it asked Spicejet to settle its dues with other creditors within two days. The bench will now pass an order on Wednesday.

The bench of Justice Mahendra Khandelwal and technical member Anu Jagmohan Singh said, "This kind of thing is very wrong, you know. It's a mockery of the entire system." It asked SpiceJet why it had...