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The Supreme Court on Monday deferred to October 13 the hearing on a plea of telecom major Vodafone Idea Ltd seeking quashing of the additional adjusted gross revenue (AGR) demands for the period until 2016-17. A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran, which was scheduled to hear the plea, was urged by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, that the hearing be deferred to next Monday. The submission was supported by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL). They urged the bench that the plea be heard before Diwali vacation. The CJI allowed the submissions. Earlier, the top court, on September 26, had deferred the hearing to October 6. The VIL has filed a fresh plea against the Department of Telecommunication's (DoT) fresh demand of Rs 5,606 crore relating to the financial year 201617. Earlier, the Centre had said that efforts were underway to arrive at a resolution with the company. The law officer said
The telecom department has approached regulator TRAI seeking recommendations on reserve price, block size, quantum and other modalities for auction of mobile spectrum in eight existing bands, including 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz and 2,300 MHz, according to sources. Other bands where TRAI's views have been sought by the Department of Telecom (DoT) include 2,500 MHz, 3,300 MHz and 2,6GHz bands, the sources told PTI. DoT has also urged the telecom regulator to offer fresh recommendations for auction of spectrum in 600 MHz bands. TRAI has also been asked to look at the possibility of auction for newly identified 6,425-6,725 MHz and 7,025-7,125 MHz bands for recommendations on auction timing, band plan, reserve price, and terms and conditions. In the last auction held in 2024, Sunil Bharti Mittal's Airtel had emerged as the biggest bidder for radio waves used to transmit mobile phone voice and data signals, cornering about 60 per cent of the Rs 11,341 crore worth of spectrum