CAG report cannot be the only basis for cancellation of 2G licenses: Supreme Court
By ANITuesday, February 1, 2011
NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court made it clear on Tuesday that the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) cannot be the only basis for cancellation of licenses for 2G Spectrum, and added that any decision taken by the government on the issue, will be subject to the outcome of petitions pending before it.
“Everything they (government) do after filing of the petition, is subject to the outcome of the petitions. We do not know what they are doing. But if they do, it is subject to the outcome of our order,” said an apex court bench comprising Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly.
The remarks of the apex court came on the plea by an NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), which was seeking a direction to the government for restraining it from regularising the license of the telecom companies, which failed to meet the rollout obligations.
“If the licenses are going to be cancelled, it cannot be cancelled only on the basis of the CAG report,” the apex court bench further said.
The Supreme Court, which was hearing two petitions filed by CPIL and Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy seeking cancellation of the licenses of 2G spectrum, posted the hearing on the petitions for March 1.
On Monday, the one-man committee headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Shivraj Patil submitted the report on 2G-spectrum allotment scam to Union Communications and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja has until now maintained that he has followed all procedures by the book. He also maintained that all moves were made with the Prime Minister’s knowledge
Raja was forced to resign as communications minister last year after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) indicted him in the spectrum allocation scam, which it said could have caused losses between Rs.58, 000 crore and Rs.1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer.
Raja is alleged to have sold spectrum licences at prices much lower than the market rate. (ANI)
