The Centre has taken a significant step by moving the Supreme Court, seeking a modification of its 2012 verdict in the 2G spectrum case. This move comes more than 12 years after the initial ruling. In 2012, the Supreme Court invalidated the 2G spectrum licences issued during the tenure of A Raja as the telecom minister in 2008.
Attorney General R Venkataramani, representing the Centre, brought an interim application before a bench consisting of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice J B Pardiwala.
He urged for urgent listing of the application, emphasising that the Centre intends to grant 2G spectrum licences in certain cases and seeks modification of the 2012 verdict to accommodate this.
However, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation, one of the petitioners in the 2012 case, opposed the application. He argued that the Supreme Court had already established the auction as the sole method for granting licences for natural resources like spectrum.
In its 2012 judgement, the Supreme Court emphasised the State's responsibility to ensure a non-discriminatory method for the distribution and alienation of scarce natural resources like spectrum. The court deemed a duly publicised auction as perhaps the best method for protecting national/public interest in such cases.
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court recently admitted a CBI appeal against the acquittal of Raja and 16 others in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
This move comes after six years since the plea was filed by the agency. The high court noted "contradictions" in the trial court's judgement, necessitating further examination.
Previously, a special court had acquitted Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi, and others in the CBI and ED cases related to the 2G spectrum allocation. The CBI, however, challenged this judgement, alleging a loss of Rs 30,984 crore to the exchequer in the allocation of licences for 2G spectrum, which were annulled by the Supreme Court in 2012.
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