Why does the Centre want to modify the 2G spectrum verdict?
Why does the Centre want the apex court to revisit its decadeold 2G spectrum scam verdict? Is the allocation of scarce natural resources like spectrum through auction the only way to ensure transparency?
The story so far: ore than a decade after the Supreme Court cancelled 122 telecom licenses in the landmark 2G spectrum scam judgment, the Union government has moved an application to allocate spectrum administratively, bypassing auctions. An administrative allocation would give the government control over the selection of operators. On Monday, Attorney General R. Venkataramani, appearing for the Centre made a plea for urgent listing of the application before Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud. The development comes a month after the Delhi High Court admitted the CBI's appeal against the acquittal of former Union Telecom Minister A. Raja and other high-prole politicians in the scam.
MWhat is the 2G spectrum scam?
The alleged 2G spectrum allocation scam is said to have originated in 2008 when the then Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government sold 122 2G licences on a rst-come-rst-serve (FCFS) basis to specic telecom operators. In its charge sheet led in April 2011, the CBI alleged that there was a loss of 30,984 crore to the exchequer as a result of discrepancies in the allocation process.
In the meantime, the Centre for Public Interest Litigation and Subramanian Swamy led petitions in the top Court alleging a 70,000 crore scam in the grant of telecom licenses in 2008. In February 2012, a division Bench of the Supreme Court cancelled the licenses while cautioning that an FCFS basis for the allocation of scarce natural resources can be prone to misuse.
Advocating for competitive auctions instead, the Court said, “In our view, a duly publicised auction conducted fairly and impartially is perhaps the best method for discharging this burden and the methods like rst-come-rst-served when used for alienation of natural resources/public property are likely to be misused by unscrupulous people who are only interested in garnering maximum nancial benet and have no respect for the constitutional ethos and values.” It emphasised that the burden lies on the State to ensure that the
“non-discriminatory method” of the auction is adopted “by giving wide publicity so that all eligible persons can participate in the process”.
What is the Centre’s plea?
In its plea, the Centre has pointed out that the assignment of spectrum is required to discharge sovereign and public interest functions such as security, safety, and disaster preparedness. The Centre elaborated that administrative allocation is required when demand is lower than supply or for space communication. In such cases, it would be “more optimal and e¨cient for spectrum to be shared by multiple players, rather than being broken up into smaller blocks for the sole purpose of exclusive assignment”, it said.
The Court was apprised that following its 2012 ruling, the administrative assignment of non-commercial spectrum has been on a purely interim basis, subject to the government’s nal decision on pricing and policy. However, it was now time to “rm up a spectrum assignment framework in suitable cases to best subserve the common good”, the government said. Accordingly, the plea envisages the following prayer — “(a) Issue appropriate clarications that the government may consider the assignment of spectrum through the administrative process if so determined through due process in accordance with the law, and if such assignment is in pursuit of governmental functions or the public interest so requires, or auction may not be preferred due to technical or economic reasons”. The Union government has also placed reliance on the observations made by a Constitution Bench while deciding a Presidential reference concerning the February 2012 verdict. The Bench pointed out that the auction method prescribed in the verdict was not to be considered a “constitutional mandate” for the alienation of natural resources excluding spectrum.
What is the signicance of the new telecom law?
The Telecommunications Act, 2023, passed by the Parliament last year empowers the government to assign spectrum for telecommunication through administrative processes other than auction for entities listed in the First Schedule. These include entities engaged in national security, defence, and law enforcement as well as Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellites such as Space X, and Bharti Airtel-backed OneWeb. The government can also assign part of a spectrum that has already been assigned to one or more additional entities, known as secondary assignees, and even terminate assignments where a spectrum or a part of it has remained underutilised for insu¨cient reasons.
THE GIST
More than a decade after the Supreme Court cancelled 122 telecom licenses in the landmark 2G spectrum scam judgment, the Union government has moved an application for a “certain class” of spectrum to be allocated through administrative processes.
The alleged 2G spectrum allocation scam is said to have originated in 2008 when the then Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government sold 122 2G licences on a first-come-first-serve (FCFS) basis to specific telecom operators.
The law passed by the Parliament last year empowers the government to assign spectrum for telecommunication through administrative processes other than auction for entities listed in the First Schedule.