Anil Ambani gets a sigh of relief as NCLAT dismisses a contempt plea against him

• The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal dismissed a contempt plea against the Reliance Group head.
• HSBC Daisy had moved the court for Ambani’s Reliance Infratel’s non-payment of dues to the tune of ₹230 crore.
• Meanwhile, Ambani’s Reliance Communications, which had filed for bankruptcy, is also trying to get back the dues it had paid Ericsson.

In a minor but important win for Anil Ambani, The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) dismissed a contempt plea against the Reliance Group head.

A minor shareholder HSBC Daisy Investments had moved the court for Ambani’s Reliance Infratel’s non-payment of dues to the tune of ₹230 crore. Reliance Infratel is a part of Reliance Communications which is now undergoing bankruptcy proceedings under the auspices of NCLAT.

According to reports, the counsel for Reliance – Deloitte – argued that paying the fees would not be possible by Reliance as “it would violate the moratorium on payments during the insolvency proceedings.”

In May 2019, Reliance Communications had moved to the National Company Law Tribunal to file for bankruptcy. It had saddled a total debt of ₹46,000 crore, and had been trying to sell assets to pay off some of it.

Meanwhile, Ambani’s creditors are trying to get back the ₹580 crore in dues that was paid to Ericsson. They claim that the payment made to Ericsson falls under ‘preferential transaction’ under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

In February, the Supreme Court directed Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications to pay Ericsson the dues it owed. It had also said that Ambani would go to jail unless the company clears its dues. At this juncture, Anil’s elder brother and billionaire Mukesh Ambani had bailed him out, just in the nick of time.