Will not hear arguments on reassessment of AGR related dues "even for a second": SC to telcos
New
Delhi,
July
20:
The
Supreme
Court
on
Monday
said
it
will
not
hear
"even
for
a
second" arguments
on
re-assessment
of
Adjusted
Gross
Revenue
(AGR)
related
dues
of
telecom
companies
which
approximately
run
into
Rs
1.6
lakh
crore.
A
bench
of
Justices
Arun
Mishra,
S
Abdul
Nazeer
and
M
R
Shah
reserved
its
verdict
on
the
issue
of
timeline
for
staggered
payment
of
AGR-related
dues
by
telecom
companies.
The Centre had earlier urged the top court that up to 20 years be given to telecom companies for the payment of dues in staggered manner.
AGR dues: Bharti Airtel pays additional Rs 8,004 crore, claims compliance with SC judgement
"We will not hear arguments for re-assessment (of AGR related dues) even for a second," the bench said.
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During the hearing, the bench observed that 15 or 20 years is not a reasonable time period and the companies should come forward with appropriate time frame.
The top court said it would also examine the bona fides of some telecom companies going into insolvency.
On June 18, the top court was informed by the Centre that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has decided to withdraw 96 per cent of the Rs 4 lakh crore demand for AGR related dues raised against non-telecom PSUs like GAIL.
The court had asked the private telecom companies including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea to come out with a "reasonable payment plan", make some payment to "show their bona fide" and file their books of accounts for the last 10 years.