Supreme Court agrees to hear 2G review plea

SC refused to entertain pleas of telecom operators affected by the verdict cancelling their permits issued under a first-come-first-served policy.

By ET Bureau | Updated: Apr 14, 2012, 07.23 AM IST

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has admitted the government’s plea seeking review of its February 2 judgement on 2G licences, offering a ray of hope that it could reconsider the part of the ruling that mandates the sale of all natural resources to private companies only through auctions.

A bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and KS Radhakrishnan on Friday, however, refused to entertain pleas of telecom operators affected by the verdict cancelling their permits issued under a first-come-first-served policy adopted by former (and now jailed) telecom minister A Raja.

The bench said it could understand the government’s anxiety about the impact the February 2 judgement would have on allocation of all natural resources. “We can understand the anxiety, particularly in the mining sector,” said Justice Singhvi, speaking on behalf of the bench.

Appearing for the government, Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising had also raised the impact of the court’s decision on other resources, notably water.

The government had in its petition said the apex court “erred” in calling the process illegal and that the matter was “beyond the jurisdiction of courts”.

The bench, however, made it clear that it would not stay the operation of its order cancelling 122 second-generation, or 2G, mobile licences and refused to issue notices to mobile phone companies affected by that verdict.

The court had already rejected review petitions filed by these companies, and Friday’s plea was a last ditch attempt to put across their grievances.

Senior Counsel Harish Salve, appearing on behalf of the companies, told the bench that they too should be heard while deciding the government’s review petition. But the bench refused to issue notices to them.

The operators’ stand did not appear to have much support from the government either.

Licence cancellation not questioned

At the outset of the hearing, Jaising made it clear the government did not seek to question the cancellation of the licences and sought to assure the court “that it is not questioning the operative part of the judgement”.

However, the government was concerned by the general guidelines that auction alone should be the method for allocation of natural resources, she said.

The government had in its review petition said the part of the judgement requiring the state to conduct a public auction whenever it distributes natural resources was directly contrary to various legislations, especially the Mines & Mineral (Development & Regulation) Act, 1957, which grants a preferential right to persons who apply first or prior in point of time for a mining lease.

The petition said the policy of granting mining rights on a principle of first come first served was in place since 1957 and “if the 2G judgement is correct, a necessary consequence would be that the grant of mining rights under the Mines & Mineral Act, which was enacted as far back as 1957, after due deliberations in Parliament qua a most valuable natural resource, would be liable to be held illegal”.

Start a SIP with as low as ₹500 with ET Money App!