"We want this plane to fly in the New Year," said Justice SC Dharmadhikari yesterday while directing the service tax department to complete the process of re-auction and sale of beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya's private aircraft by December 15 this year.

The Bombay High Court bench also comprising Justice BP Collabawalla asked the service tax department to submit a report on this by December 20. The department, being represented by PS Jetley, refused to accept that a foreign company be allowed to conduct the auction, and maintained that only Metal Scrap Trade Corporation (MSTC), being a government company, can be permitted to recover the government value.