No 2G licenses cancellation over CAG report: SC

New Delhi, Feb 1: If the 2G licenses are going to be cancelled, it cannot be cancelled only on the basis of the CAG report and any decision taken by the government on the issue will be subject to the outcome of the petitions pending before it, said Supreme Court on Tuesday, Feb 1.

"Everything they (government) do after filing of the petition, is subject to the outcome of the petitions," a bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and K Ganguly said.

The remarks by the bench came on the plea by an NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) which was seeking SC's direction to the government for restraining it from governing the license of the telecom companies which failed to meet the roll-out obligations.

NGO's counsel Prashant Bhushan claimed that the government was regularising the licenses of the companies by imposing penalties on the companies .

The SC was hearing two petitions filed by CLIP and Janata party chief Subramanian Swamy, seeking cancellation of the licenses of 2G spectrum allotted during the tenure of then Telecom Minister A Raja, on the ground that there were large scale malpractice in the allocation. The SC adjourned the next hearing on the matter till Mar 1.

Bhushan said, “the spectrum were allocated without auction at the price prevailing in 2001 and the cut-off date was advanced which resulted in the elimination of two-third applicants."

According to the CAG report the irregularities in 2G spectrum allocation had caused the exchequer a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore.

OneIndia News
(With inputs from PTI)