Presidential reference in SC on 2G order

The government on Thursday moved the Supreme Court with a Presidential Reference for its opinion on issues arising out of its 2G spectrum judgement including whether auctioning of natural resources across all sectors is mandatory under all circumstances.

It placed before the apex court the reference signed by President Pratibha Patil in which around eight questions have been raised, including whether there could be judicial interference in the policy matters, vis-a-vis allocation of natural resources.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had on April 10 cleared the telecom ministry's proposal to seek Supreme Court's opinion on various issues arising out of the February 2 judgement by which allocation of 122 2G licences on first-come-first-served policy was cancelled.

The court had also observed that auction was best suited route for allocating natural resources like telecom spectrum because the policy of first-come-first-serve was flawed.

In the reference, the Centre has sought apex court's view on the verdict which is likely to have implication on FDI, if a policy decision of the government is cancelled by judicial order.