Telecom verdict could spawn a duopoly between Reliance Jio and Airtel

One of the most enduring conundrums is represented by the question, which came first, the chicken or the egg? In untangling a tortuous question of law thrown up by a nearly two-decade-long dispute between the Centre and the legacy telecom players in the country over the definition of the term, ‘adjusted gross revenue’, which forms the basis for determining the licence fees payable to the government, the Supreme Court has clearly resolved the debate by plumping for the egg. The controversy has raged since 2003 when the department of telecommunications sent out the first demand notices for payment of dues.