Supreme Court refuses to entertain Vodafone plea

New Delhi: After being rapped by the Supreme Court for failing to deposit AGR dues, Vodafone Idea on Monday moved the apex court saying it can pay only Rs 2,500 crore of the arrears to the government as of now and will follow it up with another Rs 1,000 crore by February 21.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra declined to accept the proposal submitted by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Vodafone, after he mentioned the matter.

The telecom firm also appealed to the top court that the Department of Telecom should not take any coercive action and invoke bank guarantees, as an action of this nature would have consequences and would eventually hamper their operations.

The Supreme Court declined to entertain the telco’s plea seeking “no coercive action”. According to the counsels, Vodafone Idea contended before the court that Rs 3,500 crore is 50 percent of its estimated principle AGR dues of Rs 7,000 crore.

Vodafone Idea is estimated to pay Rs 53,000 crore to the government as part of its AGR dues. According to reports, it has informed the government that it is examining all the avenues as to how much of AGR dues it could pay off.

Last Friday, the top court had made scathing remarks on the telecoms, which did not clear AGR dues despite a judgment directing the firms to pay the dues to the government.

The top court also slammed the Centre, as a desk officer in the Department of Telecom attempted to scuttle its order by issuing a direction stating that no coercive action be taken against the telcos for not depositing AGR dues by January 23, 2020, deadline. (IANS)

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