Supreme Court lifts stay on Fiat-Chrysler deal

The Supreme Court denied Indiana pensioners’ bid to block the government-backed sale of Chrysler to Italian automaker Fiat Tuesday evening.

In a per curiam decision, the justices said that it vacated the decision by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Monday night to temporarily halt the partnership.

“A denial of a stay is not a decision on the merits of the underlying legal issues,” the justices said. “It is instead an exercise of judicial discretion, and the ‘party requesting a stay bears the burden of showing that the circumstances bears the burden of showing that the circumstances justify an exercise of that discretion.'”

“The applicants have not carried that burden,” they added.

The ruling effectively ends the Indiana pensioners’ case, and will allow the agreed acquisition of Chrysler by Fiat to go forward.

The Obama administration, along with lawyers for both automakers, had encouraged the justices to lift the stay before June 15 in briefs filed earlier today. They warned that a deal between Fiat and Chrysler would fall through if the sale were delayed too long, potentially forcing Chrysler to liquidate.