NEW DELHI: With the 2G special trial court acquitting all the accused in the spectrum case, telecom companies are gearing up to seek compensation from the government for the losses they incurred when their licences were cancelled by the Supreme Court in 2012. These include Videocon Telecommunications, Dubai-based Khaitan Holdings, and serial entrepreneur and the owner of STel-C Sivasankaran.
“We have already filed a refund application in TDSAT, which was disposed of and also have filed for International Arbitration for all the money that was put into the company via our Mauritius based companies,” Khaitan Holdings said in response to a detailed questionnaire by Express. “Since it’s vacation time and all legal councils are on holiday, we are still to get advice on our next step forward,” it added.
On Saturday, it was reported that Videocon Telecommunications, a Videocon group company, would file a compensation claim of Rs 10,000 crore against the government. The Supreme Court’s 2012 order to cancel 122 telecom licences in 2G spectrum allocation included 15 of Videocon. Express contacted Videocon for comments but no immediate response came in.
Khaitan Holdings, which had substantial investment in Loop Telecom, will reportedly seek damages of about $1.5 billion.According to reports, these telcos are ready to wage a legal battle, if need be, to press their case. A senior official who works with government as well as telcos told Express, “They are surely in a legal space to reclaim their lost money. They lost a great chunk of money when the Supreme Court cancelled their spectrum licences. Even their licence fees were not returned.”