Supreme Court Registry refuses to list govt’s plea on spectrum allocation

New Delhi, May 1

The Supreme Court Registry has refused to receive the Centre’s application for clarification/modification of its 2012 2G spectrum verdict requiring the government to adopt the auction route for transferring or alienating the country’s natural resources, saying it was “misconceived”.

The top court’s Registry said such an application amounted to seeking review of the verdict in the guise of clarification and there was no reasonable cause to entertain it.

The top court had on February 2, 2012, quashed 2G spectrum licences given to various companies in January 2008 during the UPA government when A Raja was the Telecom Minister.

Citing a long gap of 12 years, the Registry said, “The applicant (Centre) is again attempting to obtain rehearing of the matter in open court after a long lapse of time, in the guise of filing the present application with a similar prayer which was already made in the review petition filed by the applicant.” Attorney General R Venkataramani had on April 22 mentioned the Centre’s plea seeking modification of the 2012 verdict before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud for urgent listing as the government wanted to grant 2G spectrum licences in some cases.

The Bench had then asked the Attorney General to send an email — a procedural requirement for urgent listing of cases. “We will see, you please move an email,” the CJI had told Venkataramani.