Supreme Court allows question of Aircel's spectrum sale under IBC to be decided by NCLAT

The Supreme Court last week allowed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to decide the question of whether mobile operator Aircel's spectrum licence can be sold under Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) proceedings..Aircel had moved an application before the Supreme Court seeking clarification of the September 1 judgment as per which the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) was empowered to decide at the first instance whether or not the spectrum licences of telecom companies can be sold under IBC proceedings..[Breaking] Supreme Court allows telcos to pay AGR dues within 10 years, NCLT to decide whether spectrum can be sold.Senior Counsel Ranjit Kumar, representing the Committee of Creditors (COC) of Aircel, told the Court that the Resolution Plan as regards Aircel has been approved by the NCLT. The matter now lies before the NCLAT. In this event, a modification of the Court's order was sougt by Aircel to allow the question to be decided by the NCLAT..Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, submitted that he had no objection to the same..In light of the same, a Division Bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer and BR Gavai allowed Aircel's application and stated that with respect to the applicant company only, the question of spectrum sale may be decided by the NCLAT. .The Supreme Court's September 1 ruling primarily dealt with the time frame within which telecom companies were allowed to pay their Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues in a staggered manner. .During the course of the hearing, the Apex Court had also posed a question of whether or not spectrum can be sold by telcos undergoing IBC proceedings. After a detailed hearing spanning over a few days, the Court ruled that this question shall be decided by the NCLT..Aircel's clarification plea appears to be the first of more such pleas likely to come up before the Court..Read Order: