New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday held Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani and its two directors guilty of contempt for willfully not paying Rs 550 crore to Swedish telecom giant Ericsson.
A bench of justices R F Nariman and Vineet Saharan asked Ambani to pay Rs 453 crore to Ericsson within four weeks and said he would face three months jail if its orders were not followed.
Additionally, the apex court imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore each on three entities of Reliance Communications (RCom). It ordered them to deposit the amount to the Supreme Court registry within a month and said 1-month jail term would be awarded if they failed.
Ericsson India had alleged that the Reliance Group has money to invest in the Rafale jet deal, but they were unable to clear Rs. 550-crore dues, a charge which was vehemently denied by the Anil Ambani-led company.
On October 23 last year, the court had asked RCom to clear the dues by December 15, 2018, saying delayed payment would attract an interest of 12 per cent per annum.
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Ms Kalinga