SC rejects curative pleas of Airtel, VI’s seeking correction of alleged errors in computation of AGR dues

“Application for listing the Curative petitions in open Court is rejected. We have gone through the curative petitions and the connected documents. In our opinion, no case is made out within the parameters indicated in the decision of this Court in…The curative petitions are dismissed,” stated the Supreme Court in its August 30 order.

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the curative pleas of telecom companies seeking correction of alleged errors in the computation of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues payable by them.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai also rejected the plea of telcos seeking to list the curative petitions for open court hearing.

A curative petition is the last legal recourse in the apex court and is generally considered in-chamber unless a prima facie case is made out for reconsideration of the verdict.

“Application for listing the Curative petitions in open Court is rejected. We have gone through the curative petitions and the connected documents. In our opinion, no case is made out within the parameters indicated in the decision of this Court in…The curative petitions are dismissed,” stated the Supreme Court in its August 30 order.

In September 2020, the Supreme Court had granted telecom companies a period of 10 years to clear their pending AGR dues to the Central government, with a 10 per cent payment to be made every year.

The telcos had referred to alleged errors in the arithmetic calculation for arriving at the AGR-related dues by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

In July 2021, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea seeking correction of errors in the demand of AGR dues. The telecom companies had moved the top court claiming there were several errors in arriving at the AGR dues which totalled over Rs 1 lakh crore.