2G spectrum allocation was flawed, says Supreme Court
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The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the 2G spectrum was allocated on the distorted first-come, first-served (FCFS) policy.
“We find first-come, first-served policy is fine, but the implementation is flawed,” Chief Justice S H Kapadia said.
He made the observations during the hearing of a Presidential reference on allotment of 2G spectrum by a five-judge constitution bench.
The central government is seeking clarification on whether the apex court’s February judgment directing it to auction natural resources applies only to spectrum only to all natural resources
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the government about the telecom policy in allotting spectrum from 2001 to 2007, to which the Attorney General said the FCFS policy was in place since 2001 but that telecom players were limited
He said that in 2007, along with applications, a payment of entry fee of Rs 1600 crore was insisted upon and the allocation done on the basis of who paid first, which had not been done earlier.
“Then it ceased to be first-come, first-served policy,” Justice Kapadia responded. “If you say at the last minute, (make a) payment instead of date, then it is not FCFS, it is out of turn. It not only changed the modality but criteria also."
The AG told the apex court that the Prime Minister had written to then telecom minister A Raja on the auction issue.
“What made the PM suggest auction?" the Chief Justice wanted to know.
To the government’s reply that it was based on a “note by the Finance Secretary”, Justice Kapadia said “FCFS Policy can't be faulted if you had not insisted on making payment first."
The Supreme Court in February cancelled 122 telecom licences held by various telecom operators, and said that FCFS policy was a violation of right to equability and that natural resources should be auctioned.