DHAKA, – The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court today ordered country’s leading mobile phone operator Grameenphone (GP) to pay Taka 1,000 crore to Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) by Monday.

A seven-member apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order, after holding hearing on a plea by GP to review the Appellate Division’s earlier order.

Lawyers Mahbubey Alam and Khandaker Reza-e-Rakib moved the case for BTRC, while AM Amin Uddin and Mohammad Mehedi Hasan Chowdhury argued for GP.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on November 24, 2019, had ordered GP to pay Taka 2,000 crore of audit objections to BTRC within three months. But the mobile phone operator was willing to pay Taka 100 crore within the time and continued negotiations with BTRC.

During today’s hearing, Grameenphone sought six months of time more to pay Taka 2,000 crore in installments.

Scrapping the plea, the apex court ordered the mobile phone operator to pay Taka 1,000 crore by Monday and also fixed the day for passing a further order in this regard.

BTRC on April 2 demanded around Taka 12,580 crore from GP as dues in different items. The telecom operator later filed a case with the lower court, seeking a temporary injunction on realization of the money.

But the court on August 28 scrapped the plea of GP, making it to file the appeal with the High Court.