Industry sources said that although players are still confident of a change in the deadline to March-end citing a letter to this effect written by none other than the prime minister, they have simultaneously started actively looking at taking legal action in the event of the government not relenting.Sources said Fascel, the cellular licencee for Gujarat, has a couple of days back taken the approval of its board to take all possible steps (including legal action) to ensure that it does not have to cough up the licence fee due. Fascel's dues payable on February 15 amount to Rs 57 crore.

"We feel that this is unfair and will hence contest it. We have got the approval of the board of the company to go ahead and explore all the optionspossible to avoid paying these dues," a source close to Fascel said. Fascel has foreign partners like Sumitomo, Bezeq of Israel and Shinawatra of Thailand, each of which is extremely unhappy over the current investment climate in the telecom sector.

Industry sources pointed out that at least five top cellular players, including a US-based telecom powerhouse, a licencee where the promoters are all desperately looking at selling off their stakes, and a Mumbai cellular licencee are already in talks with their legal advisors to take the government to court just in case a shift in the deadline does not take place. These operators have also taken independent opinions from top solicitors.

Interestingly, each of these players is looking at filing cases individually rather than under the banner of the Cellular Operators Association of India. This is because of a split within the association on the action to be taken in the event of the government sticking to its guns.

"There are some players who feel that weshould pay up the dues. Hence, there is no way in which the case can be filed under the banner of the association. ``We are, however, speaking to some of the top lawyers who are on the panel of the association," said an industry source.

"We have received queries from some parties. In our opinion, there could be a litigation either way. If the government does not relent, then we could have companies affected going to court. ``On the other hand, there are some players who stand to gain if the government does not relent and these could move the court questioning the decision of the government of not honouring the terms of the licence agreement which it had entered into, if the government does relent. ``These companies are looking at picking up circles cheap once the existing licencees go bust," said a top solicitor on the condition of anonymity.

Industry sources said that operators are at this stage confident that the government will shift the date and also link the dues to the new telecom policy whichenvisages a revenue sharing agreement.

"We were hoping for a positive announcement from the minister on Wednesday. But this has not happened and it seems that a court battle is on the cards," said a source at a Mumbai cellular licencee. "We are ready with the petitions and will file them the minute the government makes its stand clear. This is in public interest," said another Mumbai-based player.