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| Politics
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| Pratibha Patil signs 2G Presidentia |
| Pratibha Patil signs 2G Presidential Reference
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| INDIA
, 12-April-2012
5:17:40 AM |
| President Pratibha Patil has signed the Presidential Reference on 2G by which the government has sought clarity from the Supreme Court on auctioning of natural resources including spectrum.
With many telecom companies challenging the cancellation of their licenses by the Supreme Court, the government wants complete clarity on that landmark judgement. The Department of Telecom feels that the judgement has ramifications on several other sectors. So the government has put together a list of questions that will be delivered to a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court where the matter will be debated. The queries include whether a process of auction has to be followed in the allocation of all natural resources, and if so, whether that amounts to the court interfering with the government's work by setting policy.
In February, two Supreme Court judges cancelled 122 telecom licenses issued in 2008 by then Telecom Minister A Raja. The judges said that Mr Raja had manipulated the rules to show undue favours to companies that he allegedly conspired with - he is in jail for selling licenses at throwaway prices to ineligible firms. But while Mr Raja may have twisted the first-come-first-serve policy that was the rule at the time, the judges also said that this method of allocating natural resources like spectrum is "fundamentally flawed." Only an auction, they said, ensures transparency and fair pricing. The government was also told to re-allocate the cancelled mobile licenses within four months.
The Supreme Court admitted the government's review petition filed earlier seeking clarification on the process of auction to be followed on the cancelled licenses. But it rejected 10 other petitions filed by telecom companies seeking review of its February order.
The government's follow-up questions will be put to the Supreme Court in the form of a Presidential Reference - on the advice of the government,
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