Idea Cellular has challenged the Delhi High Court?s order, which denied the operator?s request to transfer Spice Communications? six licences to it. Idea Cellular?s petition is due to be heard on July 15, by a division bench of justices Vikramjit Sen and Siddharth Mridul.
Prior to this, a company bench of the High Court had said that the licences of Spice Communications could not be transferred to Idea Cellular, as the company had not complied with guidelines pertaining to licence and mergers.
The single member company bench had also imposed a fine of Rs 10 million for not furnishing correct information to the court. Passing the judgement on the merger application of Idea Cellular and Spice, the company court had said that Idea Cellular had not provided the court with documents pertaining to the Department of Telecommunications? rejection of the licence merger.
In a 51-page order, Justice Manmohan had said, “It is directed that notwithstanding anything stated in the sanctioned scheme and in the order dated February 5, 2010, the six overlapping licences of Spice would not stand transferred or vested with Idea Cellular until DoT?s permission is obtained.?
The High Court had further said, ?The Court is of the view that a penalty should be imposed on Idea Cellular for not bringing to its notice DoT?s rejection letters dated January 7, 2010 and January 18, 2010 and for not placing on record documents such as licence and merger guidelines and the correspondence exchanged between the parties.”
The company bench of the High Court had further said that until DoT permits Idea Cellular to use Spice Communication?s licences, the “overlapping licences of Spice shall forthwith stand transferred with DoT. The spectrum allocated for such overlapping licences shall also forthwith revert back to DoT.”
It had further said that as Idea has used the overlapping licences without DoT?s prior permission from February 5, 2010 till date, it is directed that it shall be open to DoT to pass any order for such a breach.
