Telecom Companies Move SC Seeking Open Court Hearing Of Review Petition Against AGR Judgment

Telecom companies Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea prayed for an open court hearing of their review pleas in the Supreme Court in the AGR matter on Wednesday.

In a setback to telecom service providers, the Court had on October 24 last year allowed the Centre's plea to recover adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of about Rs 92,000 crore from them.

Making a mention before the bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra, Senior Advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal pointed out that the as per the court's October, 2019 judgment, the companies are required to discharge their liability by January 23 and therefore, their petitions may be heard in open court.

Justice Mishra assured that he shall have a word with the Chief Justice in this behalf and communicate their decision on Thursday.

A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Mishra, had upheld the definition of adjusted gross revenue formulated by the Department of Telecom (DoT).