Delhi High Court Directs SAP India to Restore Enterprise Services to Nayara Energy

The Delhi High Court has ordered software provider SAP India to resume full and uninterrupted software services to Indo-Russian oil refiner Nayara Energy, rejecting the vendor plea to keep the ruling in abeyance. Justice Vikas Mahajan delivered the ruling on Monday after a legal battle that began in September 2025, when SAP India suspended critical technical support following European Union sanctions targeting Russian interests.

Alternative Tier-1 ERP providers operating in India such as Oracle, Microsoft, and Workday face the same Western sanctions vulnerability as SAP. Trafigura sold its 24.5% indirect stake in Nayara Energy to Italian investment vehicle Hara Capital Sarl in January 2023, while Rosneft retained its 49.13% anchor holding.

The dispute stemmed from European Union sanctions imposed on July 18, 2025, designed to exert economic pressure on Russia over the ongoing conflict with Ukraine. Germany-based SAP severed support channels for Nayara Energy, prompting the refiner to approach the High Court. Nayara argued that the software interruption was unnecessary and crippled basic administrative tasks, including invoice generation, while emphasizing its role in national energy infrastructure.

Nayara Energy's Vadinar refinery has a primary crude refining capacity of 20 million metric tonnes per annum (405,000 bpd) and a Nelson Complexity Index of 11.8. Rosneft holds a 49.13% stake in Nayara Energy, with an identical 49.13% stake held by consortium vehicle Kesani Enterprises.

During court proceedings, Nayara Energy detailed the extent of its operational reliance on the platform. Counsel for the refiner asserted that the enterprise software was indispensable for daily refinery workflows and invoicing procedures. Furthermore, Nayara requested court directions forcing SAP India to provide necessary hardware keys for new installation routines, alongside software change registration keys required for system customisation and migration under existing commercial agreements.

The petitioner also sought judicial protection to restrain SAP India, its commercial partners, agents, and assigns from interfering with its right to access the software infrastructure. Legal representatives for Nayara emphasized that the enterprise accounts for roughly 8.5 percent of India petroleum revenue, making uninterrupted software operations a matter of national energy security.

SAP India defended its suspension by arguing that it could not independently deliver support services without authorization and technical backing from its German parent corporation. The firm maintained that unilateral restoration without parent company involvement would expose local entities to severe criminal sanctions under German regulatory statutes.

Despite these compliance concerns raised by the software vendor, Justice Mahajan ruled in favor of the refiner and explicitly refused SAP India request to suspend the enforcement of the judgment for an additional two weeks. A formal, detailed copy of the court order was not available at press time as proceedings concluded.