Nayara Energy gets interim court relief: Delhi HC orders SAP to restore critical software support

In a relief for Nayara Energy Limited, the Delhi High Court has directed SAP India Private Limited to immediately resume all enterprise and software support services to the company, despite sanctions imposed on the Rosneft-backed petroleum firm under European Council regulations, PTI reported.

Justice Vikas Mahajan, in an interim order passed on September 21, said Nayara Energy caters to approximately 8 per cent of India's energy needs and that uninterrupted technical support was "absolutely essential" for such "critical infrastructure". The order came on Nayara Energy's lawsuit against SAP India after the company blocked its access to technical support services in July 2025 despite agreements between the parties.

Court order

Nayara Energy, formerly Essar Oil Limited, said SAP India had "unilaterally" suspended its access to support services. The company was informed that its name had been included in the "EU Sanctions list" concerning "restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine", and that SAP India was compelled to take immediate steps to ensure compliance.

Nayara Energy operates a large-scale oil refinery and manages a network of retail fuel outlets across the country. The court said the "unilateral and abrupt suspension" of the support services was ex facie illegal and in breach of the mutually agreed contractual stipulations between the parties. It added that, at the stage of interim relief, SAP India could not rely on EU regulations to avoid its contractual obligations under Indian law.

"The application is allowed and the defendant no.1 (SAP India) is directed to restore the status quo ante as it existed prior to 24.07.2025, by immediately resuming all enterprise and software support services to the plaintiff under the respective agreements," the court ordered.

Critical infrastructure

The court said that without the defendant's support services, Nayara Energy's entire software ecosystem would become vulnerable to unresolvable system failures, security breaches and critical software bugs. It added that any migration to an alternative support framework would inevitably entail significant delays, substantial costs and operational disruptions.

"Maintaining this critical software infrastructure without disruption assumes relevance particularly in light of the volatile geopolitical situation and the current oil crisis stemming from the USA/Israel war with Iran, as argued by the plaintiff," it said. "It is also pleaded by the plaintiff and not controverted by defendant no.1 that the plaintiff caters to approximately 8% of India's energy needs. For critical infrastructure of this scale, an uninterrupted flow of technical support services is absolutely essential," added the court.

SAP India's stand

SAP India opposed the prayer for interim relief, contending that the support services are provided through its parent company in Germany and that it was impossible to render its services without violating the EU sanctions. The court, however, said that the 'Order Forms' made it "abundantly clear" that there were no provisions permitting the termination of the licences and support services based on 'foreign sanctions' or 'at will'.

It further said that providing digital support services was not strictly confined to a single geographical location and that it was "highly improbable" that a multinational technology conglomerate having a vast network of offices, servers and a customer base across the globe was technologically or operationally incapacitated from routing its online support services through any of its non-EU regional hubs.

The interim order directs SAP India to restore the position that existed before July 24, 2025, with the court holding that uninterrupted software support is essential for Nayara Energy, which caters to a significant share of India's energy needs.