Ericsson has dragged SBI to court in its battle to recover dues from RCom

Mumbai: For not fulfilling its assurance of resolving the dues of Reliance Communications (RCom) to Ericsson as the lead banker, the global telecom equipment maker has filed a contempt of court petition against the State Bank of India (SBI) chairman in the Supreme Court. Ericsson has also filed its third contempt petition against RCom chairman Anil Ambani. The Swedish maker insisted that the top court should freeze Ambani's personal assets and not permit him to leave India "for breaching the top court's orders multiple times," a source with knowledge of the development said.

'SBI's responsibility to ensure payments are followed'

"As lead banker, SBI is also responsible for ensuring the court's orders of payment are followed," the source said, adding that the contempt of petition has also attempted to add RCom units Reliance Telecom and Reliance Infratel as parties.

RCom's asset monetisation plan, in which SBI was lead banker, is aimed at reducing the Rs 42,000-crore debt by Rs 18,000 crore at least by selling wireless assets to Reliance Jio Infocomm and land parcel to Canada's Brookfield.

Earlier, SBI had been a co-petitioner, requesting courts to permit RCom's assets sale so lenders could recover their money. The top court has now listed all matters relating to RCom and Ericsson for February 12. Moreover, RCom's shares plunged by 27.95 percent to close at Rs 5.44 on the BSE on Tuesday, following a 35 percent drop on Monday.