2G verdict: STel to move Supreme Court, seek compensation

STel was operational in in five category C circles - Odisha, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, North East and Assam - and had 3.6 million subscribers when its licences were cancelled

After Loop and Videocon Telecom, another mobile operator, STel, is planning to seek compensation for losses due to the cancellation of licences in the wake of the so-called 2G scam.

"I want my money back. I have lost Rs 3,400 crore that I had invested in the company overall. I had brought in equity and taken loans from Indian commercial banks and spent on network and people," owner of STel, C Sivasankaran, told The Economic Times.

"I will file a petition against the Department of Telecommunications in the Supreme Court next month. If I have not done anything wrong, according to the courts, I want my money back. I want justice. I do not want to seek any other damages," he added.

STel was operational in in five category C circles - Orissa, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, North East and Assam - and had 3.6 million subscribers when its licences were cancelled.

Telecom operators affected by the 2G scam are planning to take the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to court after a special CBI court, on Thursday, acquinted all 18 individuals, besides related companies accused in the case for lack of proof of corruption in the 2008 allocation of licences.

Earlier, Loop Telecom and Videocon Telecom had indicated that they will seek compensation for their losses due to the 2G scam case, in which 122 licences were cancelled by SC citing irregularities.
 

On Saturday, Business Standard had reported that Videocon Telecommunications "will claim Rs 10,000 crore as compensation from the government. Armed with Thursday’s judgment of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court, which gives a clean chit to former Telecom Minister A Raja and others, Videocon will approach the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal to strengthen its claim, which it first made in 2015." Read full report here.

Dubai-based Khaitan Holdings, which had a substantial stake in Loop Telecom, is also considering moving the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) and going for international arbitration against the government on account of it's licences getting cancelled, Business Standard reported on Monday.