B.B. Srivastava ORDER
Aftab Alam, J. (Chairperson)
The Claim:
1. The petitioner, Loop Telecom Limited, seeks a direction to the Union of India in the department of Telecom (hereinafter, DoT) to refund1 Rs. 1454.94 crores paid by it as Entry Fee/Licence Fee for the grant of Unified Access Licences (UAS) (and the spectrum that came coupled with the licences) in twenty one (21) service areas. The petitioner's twenty one licences were among the one hundred and twenty (122) licences quashed by the Supreme Court by judgment and order dated 2 February 2012 in Centre of Public Interest Litigation v. Union of India MANU/SC/0179/2011 : (2012) 3 SCC 1. In addition, it demands Rs. 737.59 crores as interest on the principal amount for the period 10 January 2008 to 31 April 2012, and further interest on the total sum @ 12% from 1 May 2012 till the date of payment. It also seeks a direction for the discharge of the bank guarantees it gave to the DoT in terms of the licence. The bank guarantees submitted by the petitioner expired during the pendency of this petition and by an interim order passed by the Tribunal on 7 February 2014, the petitioner was permitted to not renew the bank guarantees subject, however, to giving an undertaking that depending upon the outcome of this case it would pay the demands raised by the DoT in connection with the 21 licences.
The background facts:
2. The facts of the case are simple and can be stated thus. On 6 September 2007 the petitioner applied for UAS licences in twenty one (21) service areas, that is, in all the service areas in the country, excepting Mumbai. Shortly thereafter, the DoT issued a press note on 24 September 2007, announcing the decision that until further orders, new applications for UAS licences would not be accepted after 1 October 2007. Till the date of the press note, 167 applications were received by the government. These included some applications that were submitted in March 2006 but lay unprocessed since then. After publication of the press note, 408 more applications came to be submitted. Thus, by 1 October, government had received 575 applications for UAS licences for the 22 service areas in the country. On 10 January 2008 the DoT issued another press note by which the dead-line for applications for fresh licences was retrospectively advanced to 25 September 2007. The press note further declared that the government was following the policy of first-come-first served under which initially an application that was received first would be processed first and thereafter, the applicant, if found eligible, would be granted Letters of Intent (LoI) and then whosoever complied with the conditions of LoI first would be granted UAS licence. On the same day, at 2.45 pm, another press note was issued asking the applicants, who had submitted their applications on or before 25 September 2007, to come to the DoT head-quarters at 3.30 pm and collect the response(s) of the DoT. The press note further stated that all eligible LoI holders could submit compliance with the terms of LoIs to DoT within the prescribed period during the office hours.
3. The petitioner collected the LoI as directed in the latter press note and complied with the terms and conditions of the LoI on the following day. On compliance with the terms and conditions of the LoI the petitioner was granted UAS licences in twenty one (21) circles on 3 March 2008, effective from 25 January 2008. It paid the cumulative amount of Rs. 1454.94 crores as Entry Fee/Licence Fee for the twenty one (21) circles.
Quashing of the licences by the Supreme Court:
4. Some public spirited people, apart from some government agencies, strongly felt that gross irregularities, amounting to criminality, were committed in grant of UAS licences (and the dispensation of spectrum, along with the licences) under the two press notes issued on 10 January 2008. Hence, writ petitions [Writ petition (C) No. 423 of 2010 and Writ Petit........