On Friday, the Apex Court issued notice to telecom companies and their directors directing them to explain why contempt proceedings shouldn't be launched against them for not complying with its order to pay adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of Rs 1.47 lakh crore to the department of telecommunications (DoT). The SC directed the operators to deposit the amount by March 17.
The Supreme Court also told the Centre to immediately withdraw an order passed by its desk officer for not taking coercive action against telecom companies.
It observed that the concerned officer will be sent to jail if the order isn't withdrawn.
On non-compliance of its AGR order, the SC further said, "We don't know who is creating this nonsense, is there no law left in country ... It is better not to live in this country & rather leave the country. Our conscience has been shaken by the way things are happening in the country."
"We have dismissed review plea in AGR case but still not a single penny deposited," the Court added.
Telecom operators including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea & Tata Teleservices had approached the SC in Jan, seeking modification in the Supreme Court's verdict in the AGR matter.
The Court has already turned down the petition seeking a review of its earlier order.
Voda Idea owes over Rs 50,000 crore to DoT, while Bharti Airtel has to pay over Rs 35,500 crore. Tata Teleservices, which sold its mobile services business to Airtel, has dues of nearly Rs 14,000 crore.
Reliance Jio is the only company which has paid its dues of Rs 60. The amount was significantly lower than others as the company started its operations in 2016.
Shares of Voda Idea fell over 12% after the development in an overall domestic market which is trading flat.
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