JUDGMENT

T.S. Thakur, J. —

1. This appeal under Section 18(1) of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 is directed against an order dated 9th April, 2003 passed by the Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal whereby Petition No.24/2001 filed under Section 14(a)(i) read with Section 14A(1) of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 has been dismissed. The factual matrix giving rise to the appeal may be summarised at the outset.

2. The appellant-Shyam Telelink Ltd. was granted a licence under the Indian Telecom Act, 1885 on 4th March, 1998 for providing basic telecom services in Rajasthan Circle. A licence agreement was executed between the parties that, inter alia, required the appellant to start commercial operations within twelve months from the date on which the agreement was executed. The appellant’s case before the Tribunal so also before us is that, it was ready to commence commercial operations in the last week of February 1999 and had sought permission of the respondents to do so. Permission was, however, denied on the ground that certain technical deficiencies remained to be removed and certain conditions for the grant of permission remai