SC quashes 122 2G licenses; Chidambaram’s fate will be decided by trial court on Feb 4

02 Feb 2012 Evaluate

Striking a blow at the scam-tainted telecom sector, Supreme Court has ruled out its verdict vitiating 122 licenses issued by the former telecom minister A Raja over 2008. The verdict has sent jitters across the India’s corporate sector which will be affected due to involvement of its honchos in the 2G scam. The Senior Advocate - Prashant Bhushan indicated the verdict as an “historic judgment” and is victorious to the petitioner Subramanian Swamy.

Swamy said that the verdict is the collective failure of the government of India. 'This is the best judgement possible for the 3 cases. The country can be proud of the Supreme Court.' By adding further he said that the affected telcos have the option of paying the licence fee at market rate. 'This is a major step forward for us in the war against corruption.'

The Supreme Court in its verdict has quashed 122 licenses of 8 companies citing that they were issued in a 'totally arbitrary and unconstitutional' manner. The 122 licences were given by Raja for over Rs 9,000 crore, while 3G auctions for a smaller number of licences had fetched the government a sum of Rs 69,000 crores. Furthermore, fine of Rs 5 crore has been imposed on the companies who offloaded their shares after getting the licenses. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has been ordered by court to make fresh recommendations for the 2G licenses.

This setback to the telecom companies such as  Videocon, Uninor, Loop, Swan Tele is expected to affect nearly about 5% of the users, however, the option of mobile number portability will help them to migrate to other service providers which offer 2G services. Supreme Court’s judgment has saddened the companies who stated that they bearing the brunt of the faulty government process.

Swamy’s petition also alleges involvement of home minister Chidambaram,  requesting to make him a co-accused in the 2G scam. Special CBI Judge O P Saini, who is hearing a separate petition of Swamy to prosecute Chidambaram, has already reserved his order for February 4.

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