SC says no other exercise on AGR, postpones hearing by 2 weeks
New Delhi, Mar 18 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday said no other exercise on Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues of telecom companies will be entertained and postponed the hearing in the case by two weeks.
A bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra, came down heavily on the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for allowing the telecom companies to undertake self-assessment, and said the purpose of doing the numbers again a fraud on the court.
The Top Court said the self-assessment is a violation of its orders and that the government can be held for contempt.
The bench agreed to hear plea of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the DoT, seeking more time for companies to make the payments.
Justice Mishra said, ‘Telecom companies think they are more powerful than us. They think they are so powerful and that is why they are influencing the newspapers to write stories in their favour everyday. If we want, we can send their MDs directly to jail!’
On March 16, the Solicitor General had sought staggered payment over 20 years of AGR dues by telecom companies.
On October 2019, the Apex Court had upheld the DoT’s new definition of AGR and has ordered telecom companies to clear total dues of Rs 1.47 lakh crore.
UNI.