Reliance Jio’s four-year-old telecom spectrum sharing deal with Reliance Communications (R-Com) is not connected to the latter’s past statutory dues that pertain to the period prior to 2016 when Jio wasn’t even in operation, sources close to the company said.

A Supreme Court bench had on Friday sought to know why Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL) must not pay the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues of R-Com as it has been using the latter’s spectrum since 2016.

A source, refusing to be quoted as the matter is sub-judice, said RJIL in April 2016 entered into a pact to share a part of the spectrum held by R-Com and its unit Reliance Telecom.

The shared spectrum was limited to the 800MHz band and was strictly in accordance with the department of telecom’s (DoT) spectrum sharing guidelines. R-Com’s 2G, 3G and 4G spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band are not being shared.

The AGR dues of R-Com and RTL are in no manner connected with this shared spectrum, the source said, adding that the AGR has been paid by both R-Com/RTL and RJIL on the revenue generated from the shared spectrum.

The dues related to the 2G/3G business of R-Com/RTL which it was carrying out prior to 2016, the time when RJIL was not even operational, the source said.