NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that telecom spectrum cannot be treated as a regular corporate asset during insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
The decision came in the long-running insolvency case of defunct telecom operator Aircel and its subsidiaries, Aircel Cellular and Dishnet Wireless. The dispute centred on whether spectrum held by telecom companies undergoing insolvency could be transferred to a successful bidder under a resolution plan.
The companies had voluntarily entered insolvency under Section 10 of the IBC. They were granted telecom licences in 2006 under Unified Access Service Licence (UASL) agreements and later acquired spectrum through government auctions.
A bench of Justice…