Supreme Court issues notices to Airtel and Vi on Centre’s appeal against one-time spectrum ruling

The court has not accepted the government’s petition for a stay on the orde

| Photo Credit:

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea after hearing the government’s plea against the quashing of the one-time spectrum charges by the Bombay High Court.In June, the Bombay High Court had set aside the Centre’s decision to levy a one-time spectrum charge retrospectively on telecom operators for spectrum held beyond 6.2 MHz between 2008 and 2012, providing major relief to Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. The Centre has since appealed against the verdict arguing that the government demand the charges considering the limited nature of the resource. After the hearing, the apex court asked for the telco’s response on the matter.Hard DecisionWhile the court has not accepted the government’s petition for a stay on the order, some experts view the development as concerning since the top court tends to support the government when it comes to revenues.Meanwhile, Parag Kar, telecom expert, it will be interesting how the Supreme Court rules on this matter after taking a hard decision on the earlier adjust gross revenue (AGR) case.“In the AGR case, we saw the court goes into the legal terms. What is the contract like? What is the document?,” said Kar in his video.Published on August 7, 2026