The Supreme Court on Wednesday lashed out at Department of Telecom (DoT) for its plea seeking approval for staggered payment of adjusted gross revenues (AGR) dues by telecom companies.
The self-assessment decided by the government department is a violation of our orders and sheer contempt, the bench of justices Arun Mishra and MR Shah said.
Justice Mishra told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Centre, that this is a question of court’s prestige.
Mehta tried to clarify that the government is just seeking extension of time, and not reassessment of dues, but Justice Mishra said that AGR dues are public money. Vodafone and Hughes Telecom Company requested recalculation and staggered payment, but the court said it will not go back on the judgement, and that contempt has already been committed.
“If we want, we can send managing directors of the companies to jail,” said Justice Mishra. It said that the telecom companies must pay penalty and interest as per judgement and posted the matter for for hearing after three weeks.
The top court in its judgment delivered on October 24, 2019, had upheld the interpretation given to the definition of AGR by the DoT and included revenues from various heads for calculation of AGR thereby imposing a cumulative burden of over Rs 1.69 lakh crore on 16 telecom companies.
Review petitions against the judgment were dismissed by the court on January 16.
