Thursday, August 25 2005 20:01 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today (Aug 25, 2005) admitted a petition filed by Reliance Infocomm challenging the telecom tribunal Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT's) order upholding the Rs 150 crore penalty imposed on it for allegedly resorting to call re-routing and issued notice to the Centre.

Additional Solicitor General K P Pathak accepted the notice issued by a bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice S B Sinha on an appeal filed by the private telecom major against the order of TDSAT, which had upheld the penalty decision imposed by the Department of Telecom.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Infocomm submitted that question of law was involved in the appeal.

Infocomm has contended that call re-routing was a global practice, which was resorted to by all service providers including telecom Public Sector Unit (PSUs )Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited (MTNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).

Infocomm, the biggest private sector telecom company which Anil Ambani got in June as part of settlement of ownership in the Reliance empire, moved the Apex Court for recovery of fine paid by it following the order by the TDSAT in March.

DoT had imposed a penalty of Rs 150 crore on Reliance Infocomm for violating the licence condition.

In its petition, Infocomm said there was no violation of any law in call re-routing as it was a technical procedure adopted by service providers all over the world.

TDSAT had dismissed Reliance's appeal, saying, "Having regard to all the circumstances, including the subject matter of licence, the performance of the licence provisions which have been breached, the circumstances in which breach was committed and the consequences of the breach, putting the security of the nation in jeopardy, we do not find it a fit case to be interfered with."