Government moves Supreme Court for stay on lower quality spectrum bid by telcos

NEW DELHI: The telecom ministry has moved the Supreme Court on Monday for a stay on a Tripura High Court order allowing two cellphone service providers to bid for a lower quantity of spectrum than laid out in the auction rules. Additional Solicitor General PS Narasimha urged a bench, comprising Chief Justice of India HL Dattu and Justice AK Sikri, to urgently hear the government’s plea and sought an immediate stay on the order, which could derail the auction.

The Supreme Court said it could hear the plea only on Tuesday. Bharti Airtel and a unit of Reliance Communications had recently filed a petition and won a ruling in the Tripura High Court, which allowed the two operators to bid only for the spectrum they currently use — 4.4 MHz each in the Northeast circle — instead of the minimum of 5 MHz stipulated in the Notice Inviting Application, a document laying down the spectrum sale guidelines.

The auction of airwaves is scheduled to start on March 4. Senior advocate Gopal Jain, appearing for the RCOM unit, had argued that since a total of 8.8 MHz is on sale in the circle, if one operator were to bid and win 5 MHz, the remainder would go waste.