2G Spectrum: SC accepts Govt. plea on 2G licences review

The Supreme Court on Friday accepted to hear government plea on SC's February 02 judgment on 2G licences in which the apex court had cancelled all 122 licences.

The government has tried its last effort to save the fate of cancelled licences. However, additional solicitor general Indira Jaisingh, who stands from government side, says that govt. is not asking the court to review its cancellation judgement but it is only asking that the process of allocating the licences for all natural resources should be through auctioning.

She was citing in allocating licences to coal mines resources regards where the process is still first come first serve basis.

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.

Accepting the plea, a bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and KS Radhakrishnan said that it could understand the government's anxiety about the impact the February 2 judgement would have on allocation of all natural resources.

Indira Jaising also raised the impact of the court's decision on other resources, notably water and said the matter was beyond the jurisdiction of courts.

But, the bench, made it clear that it would not stay the its previous order of cancelling 122 licences allocated to different company on 2G-spectrum.

--With Agencies Inputs--