SC dismisses curative pleas by telecom firms on AGR computation
New Delhi (PTI): In a jolt to telecom firms, the Supreme Court has dismissed a batch of pleas filed by companies, including Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel, seeking correction of alleged errors in the Adjusted Gross Revenue.
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 Rupa Ashok Hurra v Ashok Hurra. The Curative Petitions are dismissed," the bench observed in an order dated August 30, which was uploaded on Thursday.
On October 9 last year, the top court had taken note of submissions of some telecommunication companies seeking listing of their pleas on Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) due issue.
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.
Vodafone-Idea's total liability was Rs 58,254 crore and Bharti Airtel's Rs 43,980 crore. Earlier, the top court had given the telecom companies 10 years to clear their outstanding dues to the government.
The top court held that the demand raised by the DoT witha respect to AGR dues would be final. It also said that telecom companies shall not raise any dispute and there shall not be any re-assessment.
It had said telecom operators shall pay 10 per cent of the total dues as demanded by DoT by March 31, 2021, and the rest in yearly instalments commencing from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2031.
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Another video of Karnataka HC judge making gender-insensitive comment surfaces
In previous video, Judge was seen referring Muslim dominated area in Bengaluru as Pakistan
Bengaluru: Hours after a video of Karnataka High Court judge Justice Vedavyasachar Srishananda referring to a Muslim-majority area in West Bengaluru as "Pakistan" went viral, another video has surfaced showing the judge making a gender-insensitive remark.
In this newly surfaced video, Justice Srishananda is seen reprimanding a woman lawyer for answering a question directed at the counsel for the opposite party. The judge, in a light-hearted manner, commented that the woman seemed to know so much about the opposite party that she might even reveal the colour of his undergarments next.
The video captures the judge first questioning a male lawyer, asking, "You can’t write on a cheque just because it is empty. He will go to jail for 3 years. Do you understand that?" The male advocate responded in the affirmative, following which the judge inquired if the person in question was an income tax assessee.
Before the male lawyer could answer, the opposing counsel, a woman lawyer, replied that the individual was indeed an income tax assessee. The judge then asked her why she was responding, saying, "Wait, amma," prompting the lawyer to apologise. Justice Srishananda then added, "You know everything about him. If asked tomorrow, you will tell what colour of undergarment he wears," smiling as he made the comment, which also drew smiles from the other counsel present.
This second video has stirred further outrage on social media, with many demanding action against the judge for his inappropriate comment.
Senior Advocate Indira Jaising shared the video on her X account, calling for the Chief Justice of India to take suo motu action. "We call upon the Chief Justice of India to take suo motu action against this judge and send him for gender sensitisation training," Jaising posted.
One more video of the judge is currently viral.
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) September 19, 2024
Lady lawyer. Yes. He is an income tax assessee.
Judge. Wait Amma. Why are you telling? You know everything about him. Tomorrow morning you will tell which colour undergarment he wears. https://t.co/bjiPFOeaKu pic.twitter.com/FTFT4imtMG
