New Delhi, July 09: Can MTNL disconnect the telephone of both husband and wife if one of them had substantial dues against his/her telephone connection? or, can the telephone of a partner be disconnected for the non-payment of dues by the partnership firm? The Supreme Court today issued notice to MTNL on the above issue as a petitioner pointed out that various high courts across the country had different interpretations of the rule 443 of the India Telegraph Act.

Appearing for the aggrieved subscriber Surjit Singh, Counsel R K Kapoor submitted before a bench comprising Justice V N Khare and Justice Ashok Bhan that high courts of Guwahati, Bombay, Andhra Pradesh and a division bench of the Delhi High Court had taken the view that the telephone connection of another subscriber could not be disconnected for the default of payment by another. Kapoor said, on the other hand, the high courts of Gujarat and another division bench of the Delhi High Court were of the view that on default of one telephone subscriber, the telephone connection of another subscriber could be disconnected if he was related to the defaulted subscriber or if he was a partner of the defaulted firm.

The bench asked MTNL to file their reply within four weeks and granted two weeks time to the petitioner to file rejoinder while posting the mater for further hearing after six weeks. Bureau Report