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Journalism of Courage
Adjudicating on whether auction could be the only way to distribute all natural resources,the Supreme Court on Wednesday said its judgment in the 2G spectrum case had proceeded on the basis that spectrums allocation was meant for commercial exploitation and hence,auction had to be the correct way.
A Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia drew distinction between the resources to be made available for common good and a product for commercial exploitation after lawyers,appearing for different states,contended that auctions of all resources could hike the price at which they would be made available to the public and hence act against the common good.
Our judgment has to be read in context that the product is for commercial exploitation and hence auction should be the way… In this case,admittedly the spectrum is meant to be a product for commercial exploitation… It is not like other instances where you have to distribute it for charitable purposes etc. Then why not auction, observed the Bench. It said auction of resources would not tie the governments hands and it could impose conditions,wherever necessary,for the welfare of people.
Hearing the arguments on the Presidential reference arising out of the 2G spectrum verdict,the Bench said though there did not seem anything patently wrong with the first-come-first serve (FCFS) policy,in the 2G case,it seemed distorted. Attorney General G E Vahanvati said the policy had been there since 2001 but telecom players were limited. He said the entry fee of Rs 1,600 crore was insisted on along with applications in 2007 and allocation done on the basis of who paid first,which was not done earlier.
Then it ceased to be FCFS policy. If you say at the last minute payment instead of date of application then it is not FCFS,it is out of turn, said the Bench.
The court asked the AG as to on what basis the Prime Minister had approved the FCFS policy in spectrum allocation. Vahanvati said the PM had acted on a suggestion from the Finance Ministry.
The BJP governments in Chhattisgarh and Gujarat also agreed with the Centre and argued that auction could not be the only route to allocate natural resources and FCFS policy could not be brushed aside.
