INSTANT VIEW: U.S. top court justice grants Chrysler sale delay

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. Supreme Court justice on Monday granted a request to put on hold the sale of bankrupt automaker Chrysler LLC to a group led by Italian carmaker Fiat SpA.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in a one-sentence order, said the orders of the bankruptcy judge allowing the sale "are stayed pending further order of the undersigned or of the court."

The Chrysler case could set a precedent for General Motors Corp, which is using a similar quick-sale strategy in its bankruptcy in New York.

Indiana pension funds and consumer groups had asked the Supreme Court on Sunday to stop the sale of Chrysler to Fiat while they challenge the deal.

The funds argued that the sale of Chrysler unlawfully rewards unsecured creditors ahead of secured lenders and amounts to an illegal reorganization plan, and that the U.S. Treasury Department overstepped its legal authority by using bailout funds for Chrysler when Congress intended the money for banks.

COMMENTS

JERRY REISMAN, PARTNER, REISMAN, PEIREZ AND REISMAN, NEW

YORK

"Unless Chrysler is allowed to reorganize and sell its assets to Fiat, GM will certainly face the same type of opposition from objecting creditors which will doom GM's reorganization."