The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday ordered the Department of Telecom (DoT) to pay Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications a refund of Rs 104.34 crore, rejecting the government's plea challenging the Telecommunications Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal's (TDSAT) order.
A two-judge bench of the apex court comprising Justice Rohinton Nariman and S. Ravindra Bhat rejected the government's petition against the TDSAT's orde, saying, “We don't find any merits in the appeal.”
In December 2018, the TDSAT had ordered the Centre to refund the balance of the bank guarantee to Ambani's Rcom after encashing a bank guarantee of Rs 908 crore against spectrum charges of Rs 774 crore. The payment was to be made over a period of 18 years. The DoT has already adjusted Rs 30.33 crore.
As per reports, the DoT was looking to keep the excess amount as buffer for other liabilities of Rcom though the telecom operator wanted the money to be returned. The National Company Law Tribunal had started insolvency proceedings against Reliance Communications in 2018 and the company slipped into insolvency in 2019.
