By IANS,
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday chided the communications ministry for going by its convenience in approaching the Telecom Commission as and when it was expedient and ignoring it on other occasions.
“It (Telecom Commission) is one of the most important components of the entire (telecom) system. The Telecom Commission is bypassed not by X or Y but by all. Why? What was the object behind it? When it is convenient, go to the Telecom Commission and when it is not, bypass it,” said an apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice A.K. Ganguly.
The court’s observation came in the wake of the submission that at one stage, there was a suggestion to refer the allocation of 2G (second generation) licences to the finance ministry. The judges asked if it was not necessary for the Department of Telecommunications to take up the matter with the Telecom Commission.
The court was hearing a petition by Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy seeking the cancellation of 2G licences granted to telecom operators in January 2008 at 2001 prices and their failure to carry out their rollout obligations.