Bhubaneswar, April 10 -- The Orissa High Court delivered a sharp rebuke to a persistent litigant, quashing a criminal complaint against Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and its chairman, Mukesh Ambani. 

The case, which originated from a dispute over a mobile handset worth just Rs 501 purchased over two decades ago, was described by the court as an abuse of the criminal justice system.

Justice S.K. Panigrahi, presiding over the matter, imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on the complainant, Prafulla Kumar Mishra, a resident of Rourkela. The judge directed that the penalty be deposited into the Juvenile Justice Fund of the Odisha State Legal Services Authority within four weeks.

The dispute dates back to 2003, when Mishra subscribed to a te...