SC dismisses two officials for mix-up in Ambani court appearance

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed two court staffers who were responsible for a mix-up that happened in the posting of an order directing Reliance Communications Chairman Anil Ambani to personally appear in contempt of court case. Court master Manav Sharma and assistant registrar Tapan Kumar Chakraborty were sacked by the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi after they uploaded an order on the SC website stating that Ambani's presence in the case had been dispensed with, instead of saying that it had not been dispensed with.

Ambani's plea for personal exemption rejected

Ambani's appeal for exemption from personally appearing in the contempt of court case was turned down by Justices RF Nariman and Vineet Saran. Ambani's plea was rejected because of RCom's failure to pay Rs 550 crore due to Ericsson, for which he himself had given a personal guarantee.

Ericsson points out mix-up

A revised order was uploaded stating that Ambani's appearance was not dispensed with after Ericsson's lawyers showed the discrepancy on the SC website. He has since been present in court on two consecutive days. Ericsson lead lawyer Dushyant Dave pointed out the mix-up in the order to the bench. Following this, Justice Nariman said that he had instituted an inquiry into the matter.

The order was removed by the two court officials in shorthand and later transcribed it. A preliminary enquiry showed that the mix-up was "not accidental," sources said. The removal means they are terminated immediately without any pension benefits.