New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday asked Vodafone Idea to respond on the Centre's plea against the TDSAT order asking the Department of Telecom (DoT) to return their bank guarantees of nearly Rs 2,100 crore.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Aniruddha Bose issued the notice, attaching this plea with the pleas of similar nature pending in the court.

As a pre-condition for approving the merger of the Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, the Centre had sought bank guarantee from Vodafone Idea. It was considered as one-time spectrum charges (OTSC).

Although, the bank guarantee was given, but it was subsequently challenged by the telecom companies before the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). Earlier this year, the TDSAT directed the DoT to refund the amount to Vodafone Idea in two months.

--IANS ss/vd