The Supreme Court has refused an open court hearing on petitions of telecom operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices, seeking a limited review of its October 24, 2019, order which asked the companies to pay licence fee and spectrum usage charges on their overall revenues — those accruing from even streams which are not part of telecom licence — within three months. Instead of an open court hearing, the apex court bench led by Justice Arun Mishra is likely to conduct the proceedings in its chamber on January 15 or 16, according to lawyers privy to the information. The last date for paying the dues is January 23. Review petitions are heard by the same bench which has passed the original judgment, unless a judge has retired. In the AGR matter, Justices SA Nazeer and MR Shah were also part of the original Bench led by Justice Mishra. Senior counsel Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi had on Wednesday sought an open court hearing before Justice Mishra’s bench, which had said that a decision will be taken on the date for hearing after consulting Chief Justice SA Bobde. The companies through their separate petitions have sought waiver of interest, penalty, and interest on penalty. Of the total Rs 1.47 lakh crore of dues, nearly 75 per cent are interest, penalty, and interest on penalty. Bharti Airtel along with its limited review petition has also filed a supplementary petition urging the apex court to empower DoT to engage with operators to discuss timelines and quantum of payment etc. —FE
