The Supreme Court has dismissed petitions filed by various telecom companies including Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Vodafone India and Loop Mobile India, which had sought extension of their 20-year spectrum licences by another 10 years.
The telecom operators had approached the Supreme Court in a bid to challenge the government’s decision to reject their applications for extension of their licences and auction the spectrum surrendered by them. While the operators had argued that the terms and conditions of their 20-year licences state that they were extendable by another 10 years, the government argued that the norms say it “may” extend the licence, and hence the matter was at its discretion.
The operators had earlier sought a stay on the auction, stating the spectrum, for which the 20-year licence has expired, should not be put on the block. However on March 23, 2015 the apex court rejected the plea to stay the spectrum auction but agreed to hear the case expeditiously. It also directed the companies to participate in the auction without prejudice to the rights they claim on licence extension.
