New Delhi, Mar 5 (IANS): The telecom disputes tribunal Monday served notice on S Tel on a petition filed by Reliance Infratel seeking recovery of dues oustanding from the operator for the infrastructure it had taken on lease in 2009.

Reliance Infratel (RITL) is a subsidiary of Reliance Communications. The firm had approached TDSAT to recover the dues from S Tel last month.

A Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) bench, headed by Justice S.B. Sinha, asked S Tel to file a reply by March 14.

The Supreme Court has ordered cancellation of 122 licences issued in 2008, including the licences of S Tel. Though the firm has not given any official confirmation it is likely to shut its India operations.

S Tel is a joint venture between Batelco and Sky City Foundation, owned by former Aircel promoter and serial entrepreneur C. Sivasankaran.

The TDSAT had earlier issued a notice to Etisalat DB on a similar Reliance Infratel plea.

Following the apex court's order, the Bahrain-based Batelco has announced its exit from India, selling its stake in mobile firm S Tel.

BMIC Limited, a 100 percent Batelco-owned subsidiary, had acquired stake in S Tel through two transactions in 2009 for $174.5 million.