The Ministry of Law and Justice has declined to give its opinion on the merger of eight companies into Unitech Wireless in 2009.
The Unitech Group had obtained pan-India mobile permits in 2008 under eight different firms and had later merged these into a single entity called Unitech Wireless Tamil Nadu Limited.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had said that the company did not obtain its approval for the merger and alleged that the operator had violated existing rules that prohibit a mobile phone company from holding more than 10 per cent stake in two telecom companies operating in the same region.
The Ministry of Law and Justice, in its response to DoT, has said that the merger was merely a question of fact that has to be determined by DoT from its records. It added that DoT could ask the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to clarify this issue.
DoT had asked the Ministry of Law and Justice for its opinion, as the Delhi High Court had already approved the merger of these eight companies in September 2010. DoT has alleged that the merger also violated the April 2008 merger guidelines, which prohibited new entrants from selling stakes within three years of obtaining licences.
It had planned to appeal against the merger in the court after obtaining the Ministry of Law and Justice?s opinion.
