NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court bench hearing the crucial AGR case shifted its focus to the AGR dues of insolvent telecom firms on Monday, questioning the government’s counsel on how it planned to secure these pending payments from companies that have gone bankrupt already.
The amount in question is not insignificant. Specifically, the bench pointed to two prominent cases—Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications and Aircel Group of Companies—which together owe upward of Rs 43,000 crore. Videocon Telecommunications (with over Rs 2,000 crore dues) also found mention. The bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah had sought documents on these companies and their insovelncies during the last hearing on the matter in late July.
On Monday, the SC delved into what the government planned to do in these cases. “Please tell us what will happen to the DoT’s AGR related dues, if the companies like RCOM, Aircel and Videocon goes into insolvency then what would happen to the said amount. Tell us how you will recover Rs 31,000 from RCOM and Rs 12,000 crore from Aircel,” the bench asked.
It also raised raised questions as to what initiated the insolvencies of these companies and said the SC was interested in the bonafides of the firms undergoing the bankruptcy process under the IBC. In the case of Reliance Communications’ dues, the bench asked why the bankruptcy proceedings were revived after the SC had directed RCom to pay telecom vendor Ericsson, an operational creditor and the firm had done so.
The question of the sale of spectrum owned by bankrupt firms also came under focus, with the bench questioning the delay in the Centre’s filing of an appeal before the NCLAT in the matter. Aircel’s representative, for its part, submitted before the court that the company held that spectrum could be sold, since it was a transferable asset. The bench has directed the parties involved to file affidavits on the matter before the next hearing on August 14.