Facts: Following the quashing of 2G spectrum licenses by the Supreme Court on 02.02.2012 in the "CPIL" case, existing licensees were permitted to continue operations for a limited window to prevent service disruption to the public. This window was extended multiple times. On 15.02.2013, the Court directed that licensees who continued operations after 02.02.2012 must pay the reserve price fixed for the November 2012 auction. The respondent, Sistema Shyam Teleservices Limited, continued operations in 8 circles where it was later successful in a fresh auction, and in 13 other circles for a shorter duration. The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) issued demand notices for the reserve price starting from 02.02.2012 and sought interest. The respondent challenged these demands before the TDSAT, disputing the "starting date", "end date", and the interest liability.
Procedural Posture: The Union of India filed this civil appeal against the order of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) dated 10.05.2018, which had shifted the commencement date of the liability to 15.02.2013 and restricted interest to a later period.
Issue: What are the correct "starting" and "end" dates for calculating the liability of the respondent to pay the reserve price for continued operations, and from what date is interest payable on such amounts?
Holding: The Supreme Court held that the liability commences from 02.02.2012. For the 8 circles where the respondent was successful in the auction, the liability ends on 30.04.2013 (date of Letter of Intent). For the other 13 circles, it ends on 23.03.2013 (date operations ceased). Interest is payable only from 08.12.2014.
Reasoning: The Court reasoned that the TDSAT's finding of no "starting date" was factually incorrect because the Court's previous order specifically referred to operations "after 02.02.2012", implying that date as the commencement of liability. However, the Court agreed with the TDSAT on the "end date" for the 8 circles, noting that the Letter of Intent (LoI) issued on 30.04.2013 explicitly marked the start of the new 20-year term. Regarding interest, the Court found the DoT guilty of "lassitude" for waiting nearly 21 months to issue a show-cause notice. Consequently, interest could only be levied from the expiry of the notice period in December 2014, as the DoT cannot benefit from its own delay.