New Delhi, Aug. 7 -- The Supreme Court on Friday refused to grant an interim stay on the Bombay High Court's 8 June judgment quashing the Centre's one-time spectrum charge (OTSC) demands against Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, providing immediate relief to the telecom operators while agreeing to examine the Department of Telecommunications' (DoT) appeal.

A bench comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice R. Mahadevan issued notice on the Centre's appeal, but rejected its request to stay the Bombay High Court order directing the release of bank guarantees which the government's counsel said were worth about Rs.3,300 crore.

The 8 June ruling had ended a 13-year legal battle by striking down the Centre's retrospective levy of OTSC on ...