Former SC judge Shiva Kirti Singh to head TDSAT
The government has cleared retired Supreme Court judge Shiva Kirti Singh as the next chairman of the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).
The appointment is for a period of three years from the date of assumption of office or "until further orders, whichever is earlier," a government notice said.
The top slot in the telecom tribunal had been vacant since Justice Aftab Alam retired last June.
As per rules, the head of the dispute resolution agency for the telecom industry must be a person, who has been a Supreme Court judge, or the chief justice of a high court.
Justice Singh had, in fact, served as the chief justice of Allahabad High Court before he became a judge in the apex court.
He assumes the reins at a time TDSAT is involved in hearing a high stakes dispute which has seen telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular separately challenging the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) decision to allow new entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm to continue with its promotional offer beyond the stipulated 90 days.
They had also urged the telecom tribunal to order Trai to ensure Jio stopped its promotional offer of free voice and data services with immediate effect. Further, they had contended that Jio's tariff plan flouted Trai's orders on `predatory and non-IUC compliant' pricing.
TDSAT had mid-March asked the sector regulator to re-examine Jio’s free promotional services offer and apprise it on the outcome in two weeks.
The appointment is for a period of three years from the date of assumption of office or "until further orders, whichever is earlier," a government notice said.
The top slot in the telecom tribunal had been vacant since Justice Aftab Alam retired last June.
As per rules, the head of the dispute resolution agency for the telecom industry must be a person, who has been a Supreme Court judge, or the chief justice of a high court.
Justice Singh had, in fact, served as the chief justice of Allahabad High Court before he became a judge in the apex court.
He assumes the reins at a time TDSAT is involved in hearing a high stakes dispute which has seen telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular separately challenging the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) decision to allow new entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm to continue with its promotional offer beyond the stipulated 90 days.
They had also urged the telecom tribunal to order Trai to ensure Jio stopped its promotional offer of free voice and data services with immediate effect. Further, they had contended that Jio's tariff plan flouted Trai's orders on `predatory and non-IUC compliant' pricing.
TDSAT had mid-March asked the sector regulator to re-examine Jio’s free promotional services offer and apprise it on the outcome in two weeks.
