2G spectrum: Court seeks govt, cos' responses on licences plea

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Centre and seven telecom companies on a plea seeking cancellation of licences for 2G spectrum beyond 2x4.5 MHz for metros and 2x4.4 MHz for other circles that were given without additional fees.

A bench comprising Justice GS Singhvi and Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya gave four weeks’ time for replies on the petition. The bench also issued notices to the government and the telecom firms on a plea seeking transfer of the case from the Delhi High Court to the Supreme Court.

The telcos that have been issued notices are Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Telecom, Idea Cellular, Loop Mobile (India) Ltd, Spice Communications and Aircel.

The notices were issued on a petition filed by Telecom Watchdog, a non-government organisation, which urged that the case, pending before the high court since 2008, be transferred to the Supreme Court, as a similar matter was pending before it.

Earlier, the court had issued notices to the Centre and some telecom firms on the plea challenging the government’s decision to allocate 2G spectrum beyond the entry level of 4.4 MHz and 6.2 MHz without charging additional fee.