Who will benefit if the judgment of the Supreme Court gets delayed further?

Let us look at each of the parties separately. Firstly, the existing players like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea get some respite. It looks like a tough problem to resolve in the short run and their dues payment gets delayed. They don’t gain but they surely buy time.

The Supreme Court observations give a new option for the government to get more revenues in this year itself. Even if the full amount is not payable, at least this is likely to fill the revenue gaps of the government in a much bigger way.

For the bankrupt companies like RCOM, Aircel and Videocon, the resolution only gets more complicated. The SC has reserved its final judgment but they would be largely indifferent to whether their assets are used to pay the government or the banks.

The banks may be in some serious trouble. They must have been counting on recoveries from the IBC but in the telecom issue it is going to take longer. Also, the IBC may not so easily favour the financial creditors at the cost of the government.

Finally, what about the potential users of spectrum like Reliance Jio and Bharti? They will have to clearly pay a more reasonable amount because they have till date paid just a pittance for the spectrum that they are using. But it looks more solvable.