Anil Ambani sweats it out in SC, asked to appear again on Wednesday

When Reliance Communications’ Chairman Anil Ambani came to the Supreme Court on Tuesday in connection with a contempt case against him, camerapersons and reporters rushed to get a visual of him entering the court premises. 

Though Ambani, who arrived at the Supreme Court a little earlier than 10 am, did not talk to any media persons, the footage of him entering the premises soon started flashing.

Dressed in a blue suit, Ambani took seat in the visitors’ gallery at the rear end of court number six, surrounded by his employees who were seen enquiring about “boss’” comfort from time to time.

In the jam-packed courtroom, where some lawyers were present just to observe the proceedings, the employees of his company were spread out, talking to reporters and lawyers so as to gauge the situation and understand how much time it would take.

It was expected that the ordeal for Ambani would be soon over as the case was listed at number eight in the court of Justice Rohinton F Nariman — who is well known among advocates for the speed with which he deals with the cases on his daily board. On Tuesday, it was not so.

A two-judge Bench, led by Justice Nariman, started hearing a pending matter listed as item number 29 on the daily cause list. The hearing went on till 11:45 am, during which Ambani was seen going in and out of the court very often.

Though visibly sweaty, Ambani eagerly heard the proceedings of the cases when he was inside the court. With the Ericsson contempt case was finally called around 12:45 am, Ambani swiftly made his way to the front of the court on the left side and stood there, surrounded by his employees and lawyers.

The case, however, got wrapped up soon as the court said it would hear the matter again on Wednesday and rose for lunch.

While some reporters stayed back to send updates to their offices and tweet the proceedings, others ran after Ambani as he quickly left the court, again flanked on all sides by his lawyers and company employees. It was then that most television channels and reporters managed to get good visual shots.

Ambani had been asked by the top court to appear personally in connection with a contempt plea moved against him by Ericsson India. 

The matter could not be taken up on Tuesday because of paucity of time and will now be heard on Wednesday, when he will have to be present in the court again.