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SC holds Anil Ambani guilty of contempt, give month to pay dues to Ericsson or face jail

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Reliance Communications (RCom) chairman Anil Ambani and two directors in his company were today (Wednesday, Feb 20) held guilty of contempt by the Supreme Court for failing to pay Rs 550 crore dues owed to Swedish telecom giant Ericsson despite court orders and their undertaking to the court.

A bench of justices RF Nariman and Vineet Saran asked Ambani and the two directors to pay Rs 453 crore to Ericsson within four weeks, failing which they would face three months’ jail term.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore each on them and if the amount is not deposited within a month, then 1-month jail will be awarded. The other two directors are Reliance Telecom chairman Satish Seth and Reliance Infratel chairperson Chhaya Virani.

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

The Court further held that the unconditional apology given by Reliance cannot be accepted, in light of its cavalier attitude towards the highest Court of the land.

RCom shares price dropped as much as 9.2 per cent to Rs 5.45 after the court order.

The court had reserved its judgment last week after hearing the two sides, during which senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing Ericsson India in the case, had invoked the Rafale deal to target Ambani.

“They have money for Rafale. Somebody who is getting involved in every conceivable project has no money to pay Rs 550 crore to us and honour this Court’s order,” he told the bench. This was opposed vehemently by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Anil Ambani

“To say that Anil Ambani gave a personal undertaking and that it was unconditional is a travesty of justice … It was conditional,” Rohatgi said. Rohatgi told the bench that the sale which was expected to net Rs 18,100 crore brought in only Rs 780 crore.

Dave submitted that this money from the sale was given to the Department of Telecommunications instead of Ericsson. Rohatgi replied that lenders had done this to keep the telecom licence alive as without that, there would be nothing.

He told the top court that with the failure of its assets sale deal with elder brother Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio, Anil Ambani’s company has entered insolvency proceedings and is not in control of the funds.

RCom had told the court they had tried to move “heaven and earth” to ensure Ericsson gets its due but was unable to do so due to failure of assets sale deal with Jio.

However, the Supreme Court Bench slammed Ambani for his “cavalier attitude” and “wilful disobedience” of the court’s earlier orders to pay the dues Reliance Communication owed to Swedish telecom Ericsson company.

The court said it wasn’t sending Ambani to jail straight away, despite finding him guilty of contempt and willful disobedience of its orders because the bench felt that “the contempt can be purged by clearing the payments with interest.”

CJI Gogoi sacks two SC officials for changing order on contempt case against Anil Ambani

The Bench dismissed their “unconditional apology” for disobeying the orders of the highest court of the country.

“RCom had no intention to abide with the undertakings… Undertakings were false to the knowledge of the RCom and group companies. This amounts to contempt of court,” Justice Nariman said while reading out the judgment.

The contempt petition was filed by Ericsson, contending that Reliance had committed gross contempt by disobeying orders of the Supreme Court, which had directed it to pay Rs. 550 crores to Ericsson towards settlement of dues.

On August 3, the Supreme Court had ordered that the payment of Rs. 550 crore be made on or before September 30.

Subsequently, Reliance sought an extension of time for making the payment, which was allowed by the Supreme Court. On October 23, the Court said that as a “last opportunity”, it will allow Reliance to make the payment along with interest before December 15, 2018.

Before the expiry of the said date, Reliance once again filed an application for extension of the deadline, but the same was withdrawn on December 14 after it realized that the Court was not inclined to entertain the application.

Ericsson thereafter sought the initiation of contempt proceedings against Reliance Communications and Anil Ambani for violation of the Supreme Court orders of August 3 and October 23.

In the petition filed through advocate Bhargava V Desai, Ericsson had prayed that Anil Ambani, Chairperson of Reliance Communications, be detained in civil prison till the dues along with interest are cleared.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Gyanvapi mosque: Allahabad High Court rejects Muslim side’s plea against Hindu women’s right to worship plea

A single bench of Justice JJ Munir announced the verdict in the case.

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Gyanvapi mosque: Allahabad High Court rejects Muslim side’s plea against Hindu women’s right to worship plea

On Wednesday, Allahabad High Court rejected the Muslim side’s plea challenging the maintainability of suit filed by Hindu women worshippers in Varanasi Court seeking the right to worship the Hindu idols  inside the Gynavapi mosque, Varanasi.

A single bench of Justice JJ Munir announced the verdict in the case.

A petition was filed by five Hindu women seeking permission for daily worship of the Hindu idols, claimed to be located in the Gyanvapi mosque complex. The Muslim side filed a petition at the Allahabad High Court against the Hindu women’s plea and argued that the hearing on the matter cannot be done under the Place of Worship Act, 1991.

Currently, the women who filed the petition are allowed to worship the deities inside the mosque complex on the fourth day of Chaitra and Vasantik Navratri.

The petition of the Muslim side was file by Anjuman Intezamia Committee that represents in the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri case that challenged the Varanasi District Court verdict on maintainability of the Hindu worshipper’s case.

Hindu side advocate in Allahabad High Court Hari Shankar Jain after the Court verdict said that the day is not far when a construction of a grand Shiv Temple will take place, removing the mosque, currently in place.

The Allahabad High Court on July 14, will further hear  a petitition filed by the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board and the Gyanvapi mosque management committee that has challenged the maintainability of a suit filed in a Varanasi court that seeks the restoration of a temple at the site where the mosque exists currently.

The High Court rejecting the Muslim side’s plea has now allowed the Varanasi court to hear the Hindu worshippers petition. On July 7, a civil court in Varanasi will hear the plea of the Hindu side.

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WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh hits out at protesting wrestlers, tags medal immersion claims as emotional drama

The protesting wrestlers on Tuesday, in a dramatic turn of events gathered at the banks of Ganga in Haridwar to immerse the medals won by them in Ganga as a part of their protest.

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WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh hits out at protesting wrestlers, tags medal immersion claims as emotional drama

Amid the allegations on him, Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Wednesday, attacked the wrestlers protesting, tagging the medal immersion claims as emotional drama and that this would not hang him.

India’s top wrestlers including Olympic medalist Bajrang Punia, Sakshee Mallikh and Asian Games champion Vinesh Phogat have been protesting since January this marking grave allegations of sexual harassment against the WFI President.

Singh said it’s been four months since the wrestlers are protesting demanding to take action against him and hang him for the sexual harassment of female athletes but no action has been taken by the government yet as the protestors have no evidence to prove their allegations.

Singh said the immersion of medals would not hang him and if they(the protesting wrestlers) want so, they should produce the evidence before the police and the Court and if the Court orders him to be hanged, he will happily accept the punishment.

Singh further challenged that if any allegation is proven against him, he will hang himself.

The protesting wrestlers on Tuesday, in a dramatic turn of events gathered at the banks of Ganga in Haridwar to immerse the medals won by them in Ganga as a part of their protest.

Bharat Kisan Union national chief Naresh Tikait jumped in with other leaders of the khap reaching Haridwar to convince the wrestlers to hold off, giving five days ultimatum to the government.

Meanwhile, a mahapanchayat of the farmer leaders and heads and leaders of khaps from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana and Punjab has been organised in UP’s Muzaffarnagar tomorrow.

The central issue of the discussion in the huge meeting would be the wrestlers protest, where future steps of the protest would be discussed.

The wrestlers until May 28 were protesting at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar since April 23 demanding action against Singh for alleged sexual harassment of female athletes.

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Home Minister Amit Shah visits Moreh and other severely violence affected districts in Manipur

Moreh is a town which has been significantly impacted by the ongoing unrest.

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Home Minister Amit Shah visits Moreh and other severely violence affected districts in Manipur

On Wednesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah visits the Model town of Moreh, located on India-Myanmar border in an effort to restore peace in the violence-hit Manipur as it is witnessing violence for almost a month now that has left over 80 people dead.

Moreh is a town which has been significantly impacted by the ongoing unrest. Shah began his visit to Moreh around 10 am . He will interact with Kuki civil society groups and will access the current security measures in place.

Shah is also expected to visit Kangpokpi district around 1pm, a Kukis dominated area but also is home to many Meitei villages. Kangpokpi is one of the majorly violence affected districts. Reports said, the buildings and religious structures of both the communities have been a point of target in the violence.

Security officials earlier reported, there have been overnight gunfights between insurgents and security forces in Sugnu, Kakching district. Reports also claimed civilian injury during attack in Sagolmang, East of Imphal.

The Home minister arrived Imphal late on Monday night, Shah held a series of meetings with Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, senior cabinet ministers, top security officers and various leaders from the Meitei community in pursuit of a resolution to the escalating ethnic clashes that broke out since May 3. He also held an all party meeting on Tuesday, which aimed to restore peace in the state.

The visit of the Home Minister is to ensure the peace restoration and bring back normalcy in the law and order situation of Manipur. Shah was accompanied by Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Director of the Intelligence Bureau Tapan Kumar Deka.

In Shah’s meeting key decisions were taken to curb the violence and bring back normalcy such as announcement of a Centre-state equally contributed compensation worth Rs 10 lakh and a job to the kin of those killed in the violence, set-up of dedicated communication channels to counter the dissemination of rumors, improvement in law and order along others.

The hill state has been in trouble since May 3, a clash broke out after a Tribal Solidarity March was organised to protest the Metei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe(ST) status.

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