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.
The top court refused to come in the way of the government wanting to help the telecom companies.
Vodafone has sought a waiver of around Rs 30,000 crore towards interest, penalty, and interest on penalty components of its AGR dues.
Mr Rohatgi previously said the survival of the petitioner firm was crucial for maintaining competition in the telecom sector.
Now the Centre holds a 49 per cent stake in the company following a recent equity conversion of interest dues, he had added.
"The present writ petition does not seek review of the judgment but only seeks waiver of rigors of payment of interest, penalty and interest of penalty under the Judgment," the company's plea said.
The petitioner, therefore, sought appropriate directions to the Centre to "act fairly and in public interest" and not insist on the "payment of interest, penalty and interest on penalty on AGR dues".
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