Greeva Garg –
Published on: August 25, 2021, at 10:40 IST
The Supreme Court of India restrained the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to invoke bank guarantees of Bharti Airtel for 3 weeks to recover Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) amounting to Rs. 1,376 crores due to defunct telco Videocon Telecommunications.
Bharti Airtel moved to the Supreme Court challenging the demand notice issued by DoT on August 17 for payment of AGR dues of Videocon in accordance with the Supreme Court’s Judgement on September 1, 2020.
DoT asked Bharti to pay within a week of the date of the notice. The department threatened the group by invoking its financial bank guarantees.
The three-judge Bench led by Justice L Nageswara Rao, also comprised of Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice MR Shah provided temporary relief to the Bharti Airtel and directed them to undergo the lawsuit in the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) over the issue.
“We have made it clear, we will not review the main AGR Judgement. Airtel wants to file an application, we will allow it. Videocon must wait till the matter goes before TDSAT,” the Bench stated.
Videocon Telecommunications Ltd. sold its spectrum to the Bharti group in 2016. Videocon sold rights to use spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band in six circles to Airtel in 2016 for Rs. 4,428 crores.
Sunil Bharti Mittal stated that the Bharti group has already paid ₹18,004 crores in AGR-related dues to DoT till March 31, 2021, which is much more than 10% of its total AGR dues of more than ₹43,000 crores.
The DoT filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in April 2021, saying that Airtel had refused to pay the AGR related dues of Videocon despite its demand.
In its response, Airtel contended, “DoT demand has no basis in law and we cannot be held responsible for Videocon’s past dues given that the buyer of the spectrum is not responsible for dues which were known at the time of the trade.”
Click here to Read/Download the Order
Also Read: Supreme Court dismisses Telecom Companies’ appeal to Refigure AGR Dues
