SC adjourns hearing of DoT's appeal

The bench asks the parties to file their affidavits and the case has been posted for February 25

The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of the appeal of Department of Telecom (DoT) against the order of the Tripura high court which allowed Bharti Airtel and Reliance Telecom to submit two applications, one for 5 MHz and another for 4.4 MHz, in the Northeast circles.

The bench, headed by Ranjan Gogoi, asked the parties to file their affidavits and the case was posted for February 25. The judges also observed that the Tripura high court order shall not be followed by other high courts.

Attorney-General Mukul Rohtagi submitted that the Tripura high court order would upset the 2G spectrum auction in the 900 band all over India, scheduled for March 4. The two telecom companies want to stay the auction and extend their hold in the business for another 20 years. The high court cannot decide on the auction policy, which was thought out by experts.