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 The plaintiffs also filed a class action lawsuit on Monday,
seeking an order declaring that GM cannot use the bankruptcy
protection to absolve itself from liabilities.
The faulty ignition switch has been linked to at least 13 deaths and
the recall of 2.6 million GM vehicles.
GM emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2009 as a different legal
entity than the so-called old GM. Under those terms, the "new GM"
shed liability for incidents predating its exit from bankruptcy, and
any lawsuit related to pre-bankruptcy issues must be brought against
what remains of old GM.
"New GM's recall covenant does not create a basis for the plaintiffs
to sue new GM for economic damages relating to a vehicle or part
sold by old GM," the company argued in a filing on Monday in the
Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
Since it began to recall vehicles in February, GM has been hit by
dozens of lawsuits on behalf of individuals injured or killed in
crashes involving recalled cars, as well as customers who said their
vehicles lost value as a result of the company's actions.
The plaintiffs have claimed they bought or leased vehicles that had
the defective ignition switch and accused GM of fraudulently
concealing its knowledge of the defect, saying that as a result, it
was not entitled to protection from liability. "GM's argument
suggests that the U.S. Government would have agreed to extend $40
billion of taxpayer money for GM's restructuring, and supported
shielding it from liability through the sale order, had it known of
GM's intentional misconduct," the plaintiffs said in their lawsuit.
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In its filing, GM asked the court to direct the plaintiffs to cease
and desist from further prosecuting against new GM claims that are
barred by the bankruptcy sale order and the injunction, and also
dismiss the earlier claims.
GM and lawyers for the plaintiffs were not immediately available for
comment outside regular U.S. business hours.
Last week, GM sought a stay on litigation related to ignition claims
until a judicial panel on multidistrict litigation decides on a
motion to consolidate the case with other lawsuits and the
bankruptcy court rules on whether the claims violate GM's 2009
bankruptcy sale order.
(Reporting by Supriya Kurane and Arnab Sen in Bangalore;
editing by Gopakumar Warrier and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
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