SC holds Anil Ambani guilty of contempt, orders RCom to clear Ericsson dues

The Supreme Court on Wednesday held Reliance Communications (RCom) Chairman Anil Ambani (pictured) and two of his top executives guilty of contempt of court for wilfully failing to pay the dues to telecom equipment maker Ericsson.

The court directed Ambani, Reliance Telecom Chairman Satish Seth, and Reliance Infratel Chairperson Chhaya Virani to pay Rs 453 crore within four weeks or face a jail term of three months. It also slapped a fine of Rs 1 crore each for their “cavalier attitude” towards the court’s orders.

Delivering its judgment in a contempt petition moved by Ericsson India against Ambani and his executives for failing to pay Rs 550 crore, a two-judge Bench of Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Vineet Saran held that the three Reliance group companies had “no intention, at the very least, of adhering to the time limit of 120 days or to the extended time limit of 60 days plus, as was given by way of indulgence”.