Eleventh Hour Application to Stall Teleco Merger dismissed

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Delhi High Court dismisses application by petitioner to stall merger between MTS and RCom for being “bereft of merits.”

The Delhi High Court dismissed the application by the petitioner in a short order, stating that “the merger of two telecom service providers has no bearing with the petitioners’ prayer in the present petition, that is to direct investigation into import of mobile handsets.”

The petitioner claiming to be concerned about national security had sought an investigation into unsubstantiated allegations that mobile devices imported by Mobile TeleSystems India (MTS) for sale in India were without a valid IMEI/MEID, and were not updated in the Equipment Identity Register maintained by all telecom services. The instant application was filed on the heels of the no-objection-certificate for the merger between MTS and Reliance Communications Ltd.

Mahesh Bhati v Union of India; before the Delhi High Court; order dated 7.11.2017