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In this festive season, the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) has got its ‘‘gift’’ returned. And from no less tha...

In this festive season, the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) has got its ‘‘gift’’ returned. And from no less than the Supreme Court.

The court’s collegium, comprising Chief Justice B N Kirpal and four seniormost judges, is learnt to have set aside MTNL’s gift—brought to light by The Sunday Express—of 29 free Nokia cellphones (one each for the 26 judges and three registrars) and a heavily discounted package that included free calls worth Rs 2,000 every month, free roaming charges and waiver of activation charge.

The court has decided to draw from the Supreme Court’s exchequer to pay for the handsets and all calls made every month without any special concessions.

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MTNL’s gift had been accepted by the court on May 10 in lieu of rent for a microwave tower to be installed in the court complex. However, as per the new arrangement, MTNL will be charged a rent by the court for the tower.

All this is the culmination of a chain of events triggered by The Sunday Express story on September 1 bringing to light the MTNL’s note in a memo that it offered the package to have ‘‘better relations and goodwill with the Supreme Court.’’

Within days of The Sunday Express report, four judges are learnt to have returned the handsets to the court registry. The conscientious objection made by these judges prompted the collegium to review the propriety of the deal.

The registry conveyed the new arrangement to the MTNL which, according to sources, has since sent a bill of Rs 2.45 lakh covering one-time expenses towards the price of the handsets and activation charges.

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The break-up of the bill is: Rs 2,14,571 for the 29 Nokia phones and Rs 30,450 for activation charges.

The only waiver the Supreme Court got is of security deposit which works out to Rs 1,74,000 for the 29 connections.

But this is very much in keeping with current practice of waiving the security deposit when an established organisation makes a bulk booking.

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