"NO NONSENSE"; SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court on March 18 launched an unprecedented tongue-lashing at mobile phone operators for self-assessing their outstanding telecom dues, saying the action was a clear violation of its rulings on the matter.

Hearing the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) plea on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) case, a bench of the Supreme Court of India held that no further objections to its orders would be allowed against payable dues.

In its order, the three-judge bench led by Justice Arun Mishra, and comprising Justices S Abdul Nazeer and MR Shah held that no self-assessment can be done and no further objection would be entertained. “All dues as per our judgement will have to be paid, including interest and penalty. The Solicitor General had filed a plea seeking reasonable time, we will consider this plea on the next date,” the order stated. [NEWS ITEM]