In Brief
Ericsson India Pvt. Ltd. filed contempt petitions against Reliance Communications Ltd. and its affiliates for failing to pay INR 550 crore as per a Supreme Court-approved settlement. The Court found the Reliance Companies guilty of contempt: they had given false undertakings to the Supreme Court, conditionally linking payment to asset sales when the Court's orders mandated unconditional payment by fixed dates. Evidence showed they had funds available but deliberately defaulted. The Court directed payment of INR 118 crore (already deposited) to Ericsson within one week and INR 453 crore within four weeks, with INR 1 crore fine per company. Failure to comply would result in three months' imprisonment for the Chairmen for non-payment and one month for non-payment of fines.
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