SC holds Anil Ambani guilty of contempt, 3-mth jail to follow if dues not paid to Ericsson in 4 weeks

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday held RCom chairman Anil Ambani guilty of contempt of court for wilfully violating its order and not paying its dues of Rs 550 crore to telecom equipment maker Ericsson.

The apex court held that the RCom chairman and Reliance Telecom chairman Satish Seth and Reliance Infratel chairperson Chhaya Virani breached the undertaking given to the apex court and the related orders.

The apex court said the RCom chairman and others will have to purge the contempt by paying Rs 453 crore to Ericsson in 4 weeks.

A bench comprising of Justices RF Nariman and Vineet Saran said if the contemnor failed to make the payments within the specified period, they will undergo a jail term of three months.

The apex court also directed Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel to pay Rs 1 crore each in four weeks to the apex court’s registry or the chairman will have to go additional jail term of one month.

It directed that Rs 118 crore already deposited by Reliance Group in the apex court’s registry be disbursed to Ericsson.

“From the undertakings given by Reliance Group’s top brass, it appears they have wilfully not paid the amount to Ericsson despite orders,” it said.

The apex court specified that any unconditional apology given by Reliance needs to be rejected as they have breached the undertaking and order.