Ericsson case: Anil Ambani held guilty of contempt, to be jailed if he fails to pay Rs 453 crore

In a big setback for Anil Ambani, the Supreme Court today held Reliance Group chairman and its two directors guilty of contempt for willfully not paying Rs 550 crore to Ericsson. Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson had filed three contempt plea in the Supreme Court for not clearing its dues.

A bench of Justices RF Nariman and Vineet Saran, however, asked RComNSE -6.67 % and Ambani to purge the contempt by paying Rs 453 crore to Ericsson in four weeks in addition to a Rs 118 crore amount lying with the court. Court has asked Ambani to pay Rs 453 crore to Ericsson in four weeks, failing which he will have to serve three months of jail term.

Additionally, apex court has imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on the three RCom entities. These will also have to be deposited within four weeks or the directors will spend a month each in jail.