The Supreme Court’s decision to reject the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) plea, which sought that Reliance Communications’ (RCom’s) outstanding liabilities be borne by the buyer, is likely to help the bankrupt telco find a buyer under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) process.
The apex court on Tuesday upheld the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal’s (TDSAT) order that liabilities of past dues related to spectrum usage charges (SUC) rested only with RCom and not the buyer. DoT had refused to give a no-objection certificate (NoC) to the ₹25,000-crore deal between the Ambani brothers as it wanted Reliance Jio to take up responsibility for past liabilities of RCom when it buys spectrum from the telco.
Reliance Jio refused to accept DoT’s terms and the deal fell through, forcing RCom to move into insolvency. RCom, with an outstanding debt of ₹47,000 crore, filed for insolvency at the Mumbai bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the tribunal appointed Deloitte’s Anish Nanavati as the interim resolution professional (IRP).
“With the SC decision, the buyer would get clarity about the NCLT-driven sale of RCom,” a person in the know of the development told The Hindu.
RCom shares on the BSE rose 4.51% to close at ₹1.39 in a firm Mumbai market on Tuesday.