The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCom) chairman Anil Dhirubhai Ambani and others on a contempt petition filed by Ericsson India Pvt. Ltd. over non-payment of dues.
A Bench led by Justice Rohinton F. Nariman asked Mr. Ambani and other respondents to file a reply within four weeks.
Senior counsel Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the company, offered ₹118 crore towards the dues in a show of bona fides which Ericsson refused.
Ericsson had sought Mr. Ambani and others to be “detained in civil prison” unless they repaid the dues. It sought directions to the Ministry of Home Affairs to prevent Mr. Ambani, Reliance Telecom Ltd. chairman Satish Seth and chairperson of Reliance Infratel Ltd. Chhaya Virani from leaving the country. This is the second round of contempt proceedings in this case. Earlier hearings in the court last year were based on a contempt petition filed by Ericsson against Mr. Ambani and the top two executives for failure to pay ₹550 crore in dues as ordered by the apex court on August 3.
Ericsson, represented by advocate Bhargava V. Desai, had then asked the court to restrain Mr.Ambani, Mr. Satish Seth and Ms.Chhaya Virani from leaving the country once contempt proceedings started. The petition had urged the apex court to direct the Government of India, through the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, to “issue directions to prevent any of them from leaving”.
NCLAT order
On August 3 last year, the Supreme Court, referring to a May 30 order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, of May 30, observed that Ericsson India Pvt. Ltd., who is an operational creditor, is willing to settle its debt of over ₹1,500 crore for ₹550 crore, which is to be paid within 120 days from the date of that order, ie, by September 20, 2018.”
The court had then ordered Mr. Ambani and the others to “strictly adhere” to the undertaking to pay ₹550 crore on or before September 30.
Ericsson, in its petition, said the order had not been complied with. It had neither received the ₹550 crore nor “any part thereof” by September 30. The petition alleged that the respondents were “guilty of gross and wilful contempt of the Supreme Court.”
On October 23, the court asked RCom to clear the dues by December 15 , saying delayed payment would attract an interest of 12% per cent per annum. The apex court had, on October 23, given one last opportunity to RCom for clearing the settlement amount. It said Ericsson could revive its first contempt plea against RCom if the amount was not paid by then. Meanwhile, RCom, in a statement, said it had ‘deposited a partial payment of ₹131 crore to Ericsson from the operational funds available with the company.’
