JUDGMENT

SANJEEV NARULA, J. (Oral):

BRIEF FACTS:

1. The Petitioner- Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited,1 a Telecom Service Provider, is a public sector company under the ownership of Government of India. BSNL entered into two agreements (1) Empanelment Agreement and (2) Commercial Agreement with Respondent No.1 - Plintron India Private Limited,2 which has a Unified Licence for a Virtual Network Operator.3 The

1 “BSNL”

2 “Plintron”

Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 12240/2024 Page 1 of 13 Empanelment Agreement executed on 23rd October, 20174 was valid for a period of five years and has come to an end by flux of time on 23rd October, 2022. The Commercial Agreement signed on 13th July, 20185 was based on Empanelment Agreement and was valid for two years which could further be extended for two years till the validity of Empanelment Agreement.

2. After the expiry of Empanelment Agreement, BSNL issued a notice dated 26th October, 2022 rejecting the Petitioner’s request for extension of Empanelment Agreement and informing them that the Empanelment Agreement expired on 23rd October, 2022. This was followed by another communication dated 28th October, 2022 informing Respondent No.1 that th