The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the pleas of telecom majors Vodafone, Airtel and Tata Teleservices seeking the waiver of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.

A bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan called the pleas “misconceived”.

“We are really shocked by these petitions which have come before us. It is not expected of a multinational company. We will dismiss it,” the bench told senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Vodafone. Senior advocate Shyam Divan represented Airtel, while Arvind Datar appeared for Tata Teleservices.

The telcos’ plea had been rejected thrice since 2019, including the “curative petition” which is the last resort for any litigant before the apex court.

Rohatgi had suggested that the matter be adjourned to July as the telcos were in talks with the government, but Justice R. Mahadevan said the bench was “not concerned” with the same and proceeded to dismiss the petition.

Vodafone has sought a waiver of around ₹30,000 crore towards interest, penalty, and interest on penalty components of its AGR dues.

Rohatgi had earlier said the survival of the petitioner firm (Vodafone Idea) was crucial for maintaining competition in the telecom sector.

On September 19, 2024, the apex court had dismissed the curative petition filed by the telecom companies seeking the recall of the apex court’s 2019 judgment, directing it to pay the ₹1.47 lakh AGR to the telecom department.

Curative petitions are the last remedy for any petitioner before the apex court after exhausting the initial remedies like appeal/writ petition and thereafter the review petitions.