New Delhi, May 19: The Supreme Court today issued a notice to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) on a petition by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). The petition had challenged a Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) order taking away the regulator’s vital powers relating to licence agreements in the sector.

TDSAT had earlier ruled that Trai did not have the power or jurisdiction to change licence agreements settled by the government with the operator regarding the interconnectivity issue.

The TDSAT order was passed on a petition by BSNL contending that Trai could not force changes in intra-party agreement between operators and that it did not have the power or jurisdiction to change licence agreements.

A vacation bench of Justices P. Venkatarama Reddi and Arijit Pasayat, which issued the notice, also admitted a Trai appeal and asked BSNL to reply within four weeks to the telecom regulator’s plea that the TDSAT order should be stayed.