BW Communities

Will Sistema, Telenor Sue Govt?

BW Online Bureau Nov 08, 2014

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[Global telecom operators Sistema and Uninor expressed disappointment after the Supreme Court rejected the review petition filed by them in the 2G spectrum allocation case.  The judgement, however, has been more or less on expected lines. Supreme Court had not really been expected to change its directive in favour of the axed companies involved in the 2G scam. Norway's Telenor, whose Indian joint venture will lose all its 22 permits, said it was "disappointed" by the dismissal of its review plea. "We will now move a curative petition," it said in a statement. Indian laws allow a "curative" petition or further appeal even after a review plea is dismissed. This is heard by three top Supreme Court judges. The Indian unit of Russia's Sistema, which too will lose all but one of its permits, said it was considering future legal actions. Telenor and Sistema have separately asked the Indian government to resolve the licence disputes, citing bilateral pacts. Telenor has said it would seek compensation from New Delhi if the dispute is not resolved, while Sistema has said it reserved its rights to go for international arbitration. Mobile operators including Telenor and Sistema's Indian joint ventures and Indian companies Idea Cellular and Tata Teleservices had filed separate pleas seeking a review of the court's decision. Among other foreign telecoms groups affected by the licence cancellation, Abu Dhabi's Etisalat had said it would shut down its Indian operation on March 31. Bahrain's Batelco, whose Indian joint venture is set to lose all its six licences, has agreed to sell its 43 per cent stake in Indian affiliate S Tel to its local partner for $175 million. On Wednesday, while dealing with review petitions of seven telecom companies, the bench passed separate orders on each. The bench said cancellation of 22 licences of Unitech Wireless, which was in a joint venture with Norway's Telenor and operating under the brand name Uninor, "did not suffer from any legal infirmity warranting reconsideration of the issues decided therein." While disallowing the plea of Sistema Shyam Telservices, a joint venture between Russia's Systema and India's Shyam Telecom, which was granted 21 licences and is operating under the brand name MTS, the bench said "as a sequel to dismissal of the review petitions, the petitioner's prayer for stay (of judgement) is rejected." Dismissing the plea of Videocon, which had filed two petitions seeking a review of the verdict cancelling its 21 licences, the bench said "in the garb of seeking a review, the petitioner wants re-hearing of the case and we do not find any valid ground, much less justification, to entertain its prayer." The bench also did not entertain a review of the judgement cancelling 15 licences granted to Swan Telecom, now Etisalat DB, a joint venture between India's DB Group and UAE's Etisalat. Tata Teleservices Ltd's plea for review of cancellation of its three licences granted in Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and North East, was dismissed with the bench saying there was no need for reconsideration of the issue decided by it. In the case of S Tel, the bench rejected its plea for permission to address oral arguments saying "the judgment of which review has been sought was decided after threadbare consideration of all the points raised during the course of hearing." It said S Tel's plea for setting aside its directions and stay of the February 2 judgement are "thoroughly misconceived and cannot be entertained." The bench said the verdict against Idea Cellular Ltd, which was having 13 licences after its merger with Spice, did not suffer from any error apparent warranting its reconsideration. Auction Dilemma The Supreme Court in its February order asked the government to revoke the permits in early June and redistribute them through an open auction. The auction would be last chance for the affected carriers to win back the permits, but there is no clarity yet on the timing of the auction. "We will carry out auctions under the direction of the SC. The companies that have lost their licences can take part," Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar said. He expressed happiness over the court's decision to hear the government's review petition on April 13. The telecoms ministry said it needs more than a year to complete the auction process, creating uncertainty for the companies who have to shut down operations in June. The telecoms ministry has filed a separate plea with the Supreme Court, seeking the court's direction on the timing of the auction. The plea is yet to be heard by court. A total of 19 people and six companies were charged in the alleged scam, including former telecom minister A Raja, who presided over the 2008 licensing process, and several high-ranking corporate executives. All accused in the case have denied any wrongdoing and their trial is ongoing. The Supreme Courthas agreed to hear a plea by the Indian government on April 13 to review some observations the court had made in its February order. The government has not challenged the licence cancellation. (With Agencies)