Indian Express 25.05.2010
Mobile towers sealing row unsolved, court to intervene
Express News Service Tags : mobile towers sealing case, delhi Posted: Tue May 25 2010, 01:31 hrs
New delhi: The Delhi High Court has decided to intervene in the ongoing tussle between the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and cellular operators regarding hike in licence fee for installing mobile towers. The court on Monday said it would soon pass a judicial order on the issue.After hearing arguments from both the sides earlier in the day, Justice Kailash Gambhir had asked the two parties to find an amicable solution over hike of fee from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh and inform the court by the evening. The result was, however, naught.
Appearing for the operators, senior advocate Sandeep Sethi told the court that although MCD had claimed it was a regulatory fee, no benefit was attached to it.
Additional Solicitor General Parag Tripathy, while arguing for MCD, said the agency was concerned about health-related issues due to radiation and illegal installation of towers as they failed to comply with the building bylaws.
He claimed it was one time permission fee charged from the operators and it was regulatory but not compensatory.
On May13, the High Court had restrained the civic body from sealing illegal mobile phone towers after mobile operators challenged its decision to hike the charges.
