Telecom Companies at War, Centre Tells SC

"Telecom companies are at war," was how the Centre on Wednesday described the ongoing legal battle in the Supreme Court on the issue of 2G spectrum allocation. "There is some type of war which is going on among the service providers in the sector. Some of them are supporting the government policy (on 2G spectrum) and some of them are opposing," additional solicitor general Indira Jaising told a bench comprising justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly.
Ms Jaising made the statement as she wanted the court's permission to advance the government's submission after all other parties holding divergent views finished their arguments. "I would request the court to adopt this procedure as some of the companies would be in favour and others would oppose the government policy. It would be better for the government to argue after hearing the stands of the companies," she said. The Bench, however, rejected the plea of the government saying the most important aspect of the case relates to the policy and the government should first make its stand clear on this aspect. "All the companies are beneficiaries of your policy. So, no one would oppose you (govt)," the bench remarked. In an indirect reference to leading GSM telecom operators — Airtel, Vodafone and Idea — who along with their association, COAI, have approached the court with a plea to be made parties in the case, Ms Jaising said there are some aggrieved companies also in the case.
The GSM service providers had on Tuesday submitted that they should be heard in the matter as they have challenged the Centre's policy of allocating GSM spectrum to CDMA operators under dual technology to service providers such as Reliance Communication and Tata Tele Services. It was alleged that the two companies were allotted GSM spectrum under the dual technology regime, ignoring several applicants who had applied for the licence.
"It is in the interest of justice that the applicants be permitted to intervene at the hearing and to make appropriate submission, especially, the submission that the investigation by CBI should not in any way be influenced by TDSAT judgement (allowing use of dual technology)," the GSM lobby group COAI along with leading operators — Airtel, Vodafone and Idea — said in its application.
CBI Questions Realty Firm CEO
NEW DELHI Continuing its probe into the financial dealings of Anil Ambani-led ADAG Group in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam, the CBI on Wednesday questioned Amit Sarin, director and chief executive officer of Anant Raj Industries, a realty and infrastructure firm, for links with the group. "We had entered into a joint venture with ADAG six years back for two hotels and we were called to CBI to explain our financial dealings with that company," Mr Sarin said, after he was questioned by the agency. He said his company had no role in the scam. — PTI
'Case Has Taken New Dimension'
NEW DELHI A new dimension has come out in the 2G spectrum case, the Supreme court said after going through a government file pertaining to cancellation and restoration of licence to Chennai-based telecom operator S-Tel during the tenure of A Raja. Justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly went through the file placed before it on its direction after it was alleged that the Centre had "armtwisted" the company for challenging DoT's 2G policy in court. "The file placed by the Additional Solicitor General... tells about a new dimension, which is altogether different," the court said. —Agencies
Court Criticises Raja for PM Jibe
NEW DELHI Former telecom minister A Raja, prime accused in the 2G case, was criticised by the Supreme Court for using "intemperate" and "objectionable" language in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on spectrum allocation. The apex court was anguished over the tone and tenor of Raja's letter to the PM in which words like "unfair, discriminatory, capricious and arbitrary" were used. "The decorum required that the language must be polite and temperate," Justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly said. "It amounted to showing disrespect to the highest political authority of the country." —Agencies
Make 2G Stand Clear: SC to Govt

• The service providers are in some kind of a war. Some support the government's policy (on 2G spectrum) and some oppose it, additional solicitor general Indira Jaising told the SC

• She said the government
would argue the case after hearing the companies' stand. But the SC rejected the plea saying the government should first make its stand on the policy clear