It's not acceptable that Grameenphone (GP) will operate business in the country and not pay what it owes to the government, said Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain.
His remarks came on Thursday (Oct 31), when the Appellate Division heard the telecoms regulator's petition seeking to freeze a High Court order issuing an injunction on its move to realise Tk 125.80 billion from the mobile operator.
The chief justice-led six-member appeals bench gave GP two weeks to inform it how much money it can pay now the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) from its dues before setting Nov 14 for the next hearing.
During Thursday's hearing, Chief Justice Hossain told GP's counsels that some people feel that they will be spared if they can move the court to secure a decision in their favour.
Advocate AM Aminuddin and Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, who represent the telco, told the court that GP has already given more than Tk 20 billion to the government, before adding their client did not say that it will not give the money.
On Oct 24, the apex court asked GP to inform it by Thursday about how much money the operator could pay the government now out of the total audit claim.
On Oct 17, the High Court issued a two-month injunction on BTRC’s move to realize the money, after the mobile operator moved the court.
After the High Court’s rule, BTRC appealed to the Supreme Court about the matter.
The telecoms regulator recently took a number of regulatory measures against GP.
After running an audit on the Norway-based company, BTRC in 2016 claimed Tk 125.79 billion from the mobile phone operator in taxes and late fees accumulated over the years.
BTRC ran its first audit back in 2011 on GP and found financial discrepancies amounting to Tk 30.34 billion in the operator's books from its inception in 1996 till March 2011.
GP then disputed the appointment process of the auditing firm, and after a court ruling BTRC in October 2015 appointed another firm, Toha Khan Zaman & Co, to run a new audit on its books from its inception until June 2015.
GP claims that the methodology in the particular issue of BTRC was questionable