DoT's demand for AGR dues from PSUs impermissible, says Supreme Court

The Supreme Court asks Centre to reconsider its decision

The Supreme Court on Thursday told the Union government to reconsider its demand of Rs 4 lakh crore, raised as the adjusted gross revenue against the public sector undertakings for use of spectrum, saying it was wholly impermissible.

A bench presided over by Justice Arun Mishra warned of contempt action against the senior officers, for raising such a demand against the PSUs in terms of its 2019 judgement.

"This is an outright misuse of our verdict. You are making a demand of over four lakh crores. This is wholly and totally impermissible," the bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.

After the October 24, 2019 Supreme Court judgement, public sector companies like GAIL, India, Power Grid Corporation of India, Oil India Ltd, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Rail-Tel, were saddled with the demand of about four lakh crore. As many as 15 Telecom companies were asked to clear more than Rs 1.47 lakh crore, including licence fees, spectrum uses charges, interest and penalties.

Mehta, appearing for the Department of Telecommunications, asked the court to clarify the judgement. The court, however, declined the plea.

"There are a few PSUs which form a class unto themselves. They discharge government functions. These PSUs are not providing mobile services like other telecom providers for commercial exploitation. These companies need to be treated differently than private sector telecom providers," he said.

"We would request you to withdraw this (demand on PSUs) otherwise we will take strict action against them (the officers)," the bench told him.

The bench also asked other Telecoms as to how they will pay the AGR dues of over Rs 1.47 lakh crore. The court asked them to clear their stand on payments of dues and their financial position and fixed the matter for further hearing on June 18.

The government sought a window of 20 years for payment by private Telecoms, which the court termed as "too long period".

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, A M Singhvi, Mukul Rohatgi, Arvind Datar and others, appearing for Telecom majors, sought time to file an affidavit, giving the time frame for payment.

Singhvi, appearing for Airtel, said as per its calculation, it has paid 100% of the amount. Rohatgi for Vodafone said licence and spectrum have been secured after paying thousand of crores. Licences can be cancelled in case of failure to pay. "We don't have enough to pay even salaries," he said.

The bench, however, said, "We want to make sure money comes to the government." The court asked the counsel to find out about their clients' bank guarantee, personal guarantee and other undertakings.