New Delhi | The Supreme Court today ordered Anil Ambani and 2 Directors of the Reliance communication to pay 453 crores to Telecom equipment maker Ericsson or face three months of jail.
Holding Anil Ambani and two directors guilty of contempt of court on a contempt plea filed by Ericsson India over not clearing its dues of Rs 550 crore the top court imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore each on them. The Supreme Court bench also stated that if the fine is not deposited within a month, 1-month jail will be awarded to them. The other two directors found guilty are Reliance Telecom chairman Satish Seth and Reliance Infratel chairperson Chhaya Virani
A bench of Justices RF Nariman and Vineet Saran on February 13 had reserved its judgement when Ericsson India had alleged that the Reliance Group has money to invest in the Rafale jet deal, but they were unable to clear its Rs. 550-crore dues, a charge which was vehemently denied by the Anil Ambani-led company.
Anil Ambani told the top court that with the failure of its assets sale deal with elder brother Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio, his company has entered insolvency proceedings and is not in control of the funds.
Reliance Communications (RCom) had told the court they had tried to move “heaven and earth” to ensure Ericsson gets its due but was unable to do so due to failure of assets sale deal with Reliance Jio.
The court on October 23 asked RCom to clear the dues by December 15, 2018, saying delayed payment would attract an interest of 12 per cent per annum. The plea by Ericsson had sought that the court direct Anil Ambani and the lenders forum to hand over the Rs. 550 crore with interest from sale proceeds as per the October 23 order.
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