Auction order restricted to 2G spectrum only : SC
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said that his auction order was not applicable to all natural resources and was restricted to the telecom spectrums only.
A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia opined on the Presidential reference saying that the auction route was not the only method for allocating natural resources.
The bench said auction could be a better option where the aim is maximisation of revenue, but then “every method other than auction of natural resources cannot be shut down”.
The government had on April 12 moved the Reference signed by the then President Pratibha Patil in which eight questions have been raised, including whether there could be judicial interference in policy matters, vis-a-vis disposal of natural resources and investments made by foreign investors under multi and bilateral agreements.
A meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had on April 10 cleared the Telecom Ministry’s proposal to seek the Supreme Court’s opinion on various issues arising out of the February 2 judgement.
The two-judge bench, in its verdict, had also observed that auction was best suited route for allocating natural resources like telecom spectrum because the policy of first-come-first-serve was flawed.
The bench had on May 11 issued notices to the state governments and industrial chambers FICCI and CII and sought their responses on behalf of the private industries.
The court had also issued notices to the NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) and Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy on whose petitions a bench comprising justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly (since retired) had delivered a judgement on February 2 cancelling 122 telecom licences by holding that the first-come-first-served policy was illegal and unconstitutional.
