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AGR Case: Telecom Majors Seek Open Court Hearing In Supreme Court

The plea seeking an open court hearing was mentioned before a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra.

Bharti Airtel Ltd., Vodafone India Ltd. and Idea Cellular Ltd. sim card packs are arranged for photograph in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)
Bharti Airtel Ltd., Vodafone India Ltd. and Idea Cellular Ltd. sim card packs are arranged for photograph in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

Telecom majors, including Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Vodafone Idea Ltd., on Wednesday sought an open court hearing of their plea seeking review of certain directions of the Supreme Court on recovery of past dues amounting to Rs 1.47 lakh crore from telecom service providers.

The recovery of past dues by the government was based on adjusted gross revenue of about Rs 92,000 crore.

The plea seeking an open court hearing was mentioned before a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra, who said he will talk to Chief Justice SA Bobde and decide accordingly.

The apex court had on last year Oct. 24 upheld the AGR definition formulated by the Department of Telecom and termed as "frivolous" the nature of objections raised by telecom service providers.

Bharti Airtel, in its plea, had sought review of the directions on aspects of levy of interest, penalty and interest on penalty relating to AGR, a source related to the development had said.