Vodafone plea against TRAI recommendation premature: Centre

The ASG opposed the maintainability of the petition, saying once the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) of the Ministry of Communication takes a decision, then it is an appealable order.

New Delhi, Jan 3: The Centre today termed as "premature" the plea by telecom major Vodafone challenging TRAI's recommendation to impose Rs 1,050 crore penalty on it for not providing interconnectivity to Reliance Jio.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain, appearing for the Centre, argued before Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva that Vodafone's plea was a "complete abuse of process of court" as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had only made a recommendation and the government was yet to form an opinion.

The ASG opposed the maintainability of the petition, saying once the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) of the Ministry of Communication takes a decision, then it is an appealable order.

He also questioned whether the telecom major had any material with it to show that the government would be influenced by TRAI's recommendation. The court, thereafter, gave the Ministry and TRAI two weeks time to file their reply on the issue of maintainability of the petition and listed it for hearing on February 6.

PTI