Industrialist Anil Ambani was held guilty by the Supreme Court of India for contempt. In a strict warning, the court asked Mr. Ambani to pay INR₹ 453 crore to Ericsson India within four weeks, if not face jail for 3 months.
The court ordered INR₹ 180 crore be handed over to Erricson that was deposited by the Reliance Group in the court registry.
The court rejected an apology of the Reliance Group since they “breached the undertaking and order”.
The court called Anil Ambani’s attitude “cavalier” (lack of concern) and also fined him along with his directors INR₹ 1 crore each.
Reliance Communication Limited spokesperson said, “We respect the Supreme Court judgement. The RCOM Group shall comply with the same.”
Background –
In 2014, Reliance Communication signed a seven year deal with Ericsson India to manage RCom’s network operations. Last year, the court ordered Mr. Ambani to pay Ericsson’s it’s dues i.e. INR₹ 550 crore.
Then RCom was in talks to sell their assets to Anil Ambani’s elder brother Mukesh Ambani’s firm Reliance Jio. The talks stalled, this led RCom to start insolvency proceedings.
Ericsson on the other hand contested that Anil Ambani had enough money to invest in its sister company Reliance Defence for the Rafale jet deal, but failed to clear its dues.