The court's decision follows a plea by Bharti after the Department of Telecommunications ordered it to stop offering services in the seven areas Friday. It had also asked the company to pay 3.5 billion rupees for violating permit rules.
The court will hear the plea on May 8, the executive, who didn't wish to be named, told The Wall Street Journal.
It also ordered Bharti to keep the penalty in a separate bank account. The department may withdraw the money if the company loses its plea, he said.
In July 2011, Bharti, Idea Cellular Ltd. (532822.BY) and the local unit of U.K.-based Vodafone Group PLC (VOD.LN) signed agreements that allowed their customers to use 3G services in areas where at least one of the companies has bandwidth.
In December 2011, the department banned the companies from doing so, saying the terms of their 3G licenses don't allow such pacts.
Bharti, Idea, and Vodafone India then went to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal, which initially stayed the ban.
In July, a two-member bench of the tribunal delivered a split verdict on whether operators could continue providing services in areas where they don't hold bandwidth. But the department insisted that the operators have to stop the services.
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