A day after Supreme Court held Reliance Communications (RCom) chairman Anil Ambani guilty in contempt for not paying dues worth Rs 550 crore to Ericsson, the company sought approval from the lenders for the release of nearly Rs 260 crore that it received in income tax refunds.
“Reliance Communications group has requested urgent approval from its lenders to release approx. Rs 260 crore received from Income Tax refunds, lying in its bank account, directly to Ericsson,” RCom said in a regulatory filing.
RCom has already deposited Rs 118 crore with the Supreme Court, the company also said.
“RCOM is confident of raising the balance approx Rs. 200 crore for payment to Ericsson, in order that the entire Rs 550 crore plus interest thereon stands paid to Ericsson well within the time of 4 weeks allowed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” it added.
The apex court yesterday held RCom chairman Anil Ambani and others guilty of contempt of court for wilfully violating its order and not paying its dues of Rs 550 crore to Ericsson.
The Supreme Court said in its ruling that the RCom chairman Anil Ambani, 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 also directed the RCom chairman Anil Ambani and others to purge the contempt by paying Rs 453 crore to Ericsson in four weeks.
It had also directed the Registry to transfer the Rs 118 crore already deposited in court to Ericsson within one week.