New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Thursday directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to de-seal the illegal mobile phone towers within five days if the telecom operators pay the licence fees fixed by the corporation.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Manmohan said that only those mobile towers would be de-sealed which were sealed due to payment problems.

The telecom operators will have to deposit the payment by July 14.

There are 5,364 mobile phone towers within MCD’s jurisdiction. Of these, 2,952 have been declared illegal for coming up without the civic agency’s authorisation.