HomeTelecom NewsWhat the SC refusal to review telecom AGR order means, according to experts

What the SC refusal to review telecom AGR order means, according to experts

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed review petitions of top telecom firms including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea seeking review of its earlier order.

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By CNBC-TV18 January 17, 2020, 6:01:54 AM IST (Updated)

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed review petitions of top telecom firms including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea seeking review of its earlier order asking them to pay Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past statutory dues by January 23 saying it did not find any "justifiable reason" to entertain them.


The apex court had on October 24 ruled that the statutory dues need to be calculated by including non-telecom revenues in what is known as adjusted gross revenues (AGR) of telcos.

A bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, S A Nazeer and M R Shah in-chamber hearing did not find merit in the review plea and dismissed it.
The telecom companies had sought an open court hearing on their review petition but the Supreme Court decided to stick to its convention of doing an in-chamber hearing.

"Applications for hearing in open Court/oral hearing are rejected. Having perused the Review Petitions and the connected papers with meticulous care, we do not find any justifiable reason to entertain the review petitions. The Review Petitions are, accordingly, dismissed," the bench said.

CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan is in conversation with Rajan Mathews, director general at Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI); Mahesh Agarwal, the lawyer for telecom firms; Mahesh Uppal, telecom expert; Sanjay Kapoor, telecom consultant and R Chandrashekhar, former secretary, DoT.

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