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In a relief to beleaguered Reliance Communications (RCom) , the Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a government appeal that challenged an earlier tribunal order directing it to refund Rs 104 crore to the telecom company.
On December 21, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) had asked the government to return Rs 104 crore to the company. This after encashment of a bank guarantee of Rs 908 crore against spectrum charges of Rs 774 crore.
A bench of justices R F Nariman and S Ravindra Bhat said, "We don't find any merits in the appeal".
RCom had provided DoT with bank guarantees for Rs 908 crore on deferred spectrum charges for 2013 and 2015 auctions, of which the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) was to encash guarantees of Rs 774 crore and repay the balance.
But DoT refused to return the balance saying it will keep it to adjust other dues.
Separately, RCom said in a regulatory statement that the Committee of Creditors (CoC) is scheduled to meet on Wednesday.
Earlier, RCom, a company controlled by Anil Ambani, had received a total of 11 bids from four companies for assets housed under various subsidiaries, including that from India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJio). The others in the fray were Sunil Mittal-backed Bharti Airtel, PE firm Varde Partners and UV Asset Reconstruction Company (UVARCL).
The last date for the completion of the resolution process is January 10, following an extension received earlier from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
Last month, Bharti Airtel placed bids worth Rs 3,000 crore for RCom’s assets, with the New Delhi-headquartered company placing a Rs 950-crore bid for spectrum, Rs 100 crore for Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL) and another Rs 1,900 crore for the tower and fibre assets owned by RCom subsidiary eliance Infratel (RITL).
Varde Partners and UVARCL have also bid for all the three companies, and have offered to monetise the assets, including spectrum, and distribute proceeds to the lenders.
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