Error in SC’s 2G verdict on sanction need to be corrected: govt

The Centre sought review of apex court’s January 31 verdict that blamed the Prime Minister’s office (PMO) for sitting on the plea to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for granting sanction to prosecute former Telecom Minister A Raja in the 2G scam.

The Centre said it was not challenging the findings in the judgement on the locus but was seeking review for the “limited extent of correcting certain errors apparent in the judgement” as the remarks were also made against the officers of PMO who were not party to the litigation.

This included “the observations made by this court regarding certain unnamed officers of the PMO without them being parties to the list,” the review petition filed by Centre’s advocate T A Khan said.

Government also contended that there was error in the judgement passed by a bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly (since retired) relating to the “scope of scrutiny by the competent authority of the request for sanction for prosecution.”

Further,the Centre questioned the observations made by Justice Ganguly,who wrote a separate but concurring judgement,saying it comes in the way of fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution and is “legally untenable”.