The Supreme Court today refused to interfere with the order of telecom tribunal dismissing the pleas of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Loop and Idea for a stay on spectrum auction which is starting tomorrow and extension of their licenses by another 10 years.

However, in an extraordinary urgent hearing on Sunday, a bench comprising justices A R Dave and S A Bobde admitted the appeals filed by Airtel and Vodafone challenging the January 31 order of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal.

"The appeal is admitted and hearing is expedited," the bench said after the Centre opposed the appeals saying "any observation from you (apex court) can scare away other bidders and can take away the vibrancy of the spectrum auction".

Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Abhishekh Singhvi, appearing for Airtel and Vodafone respectively, contended that the existing licences for the spectrum to them should be extended instead of putting them on auction.