[ By Bobby Anthony ]The Supreme Court has dismissed the central government’s petition which had challenged a TDSAT order instructing it to refund around Rs 104 crore to the Anil Ambani-run Reliance Communication (RCom).On December 21, 2018, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) had asked the central government to pay back the amount after liquidating a bank guarantee...
The Supreme Court has dismissed the central government’s petition which had challenged a TDSAT order instructing it to refund around Rs 104 crore to the Anil Ambani-run Reliance Communication (RCom).
On December 21, 2018, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) had asked the central government to pay back the amount after liquidating a bank guarantee of Rs 908 crore against spectrum charges of Rs 774 crore. This was directed to be paid off over an 18-year period.
“We don’t find any merits in the appeal,” the Supreme Court’s bench, comprising Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice RF Nariman said.
The telecom department has already made adjustments of around Rs 30.33 crore, but the central government had petitioned the Supreme Court against the TDSAT order.
On November 16, 2019, Reliance Communications Chairperson Anil Ambani and four other directors – Chhaya Virani, Ryna Karani, Manjari Kacker and Suresh Rangachar – had quit their posts. However, the company said on November 24, 2019 that its lenders had rejected their resignations.
The Committee of Creditors had also ordered that the directors be asked to resume their responsibilities and “provide all cooperation in the corporate insolvency resolution process”, at least until the conclusion of the process.