In a U-turn, the Union government on Tuesday decided to withdraw from the Supreme Court its review petition on the 2G verdict, which said natural resources should be allotted to private companies only through auction, and not through the first-come, first-served (FCFS) policy.
Click >here for a .pdf of the Supreme Court order
Click >here for a .pdf of the graphic
The Centre has circulated a letter to the “parties” linked to the matter, stating that an application would be moved on May 10 for withdrawing the petition.
The petition had sought a review of the February 2, 2012 judgment that ordered the cancellation of all 122 licences issued on the FCFS basis in 2008 during the tenure of the then Telecom Minister, A. Raja.
“In view of the fact that only limited notice has been issued, the petitioners don't want to press the review petition, and will be praying for its withdrawal,” the letter said.
Last month, the Supreme Court admitted the review petition, but refused to hear the affected firms, whose petitions for reconsideration of the verdict were dismissed.
In the petition, the Centre said it did not want to question the order on the cancellation of licences.
After filing the petition, the government moved the Supreme Court with a presidential reference for its opinion on issues arising out of the judgment, including making auctioning of natural resources across all sectors mandatory, and giving retrospective effect for radio waves granted since 1994.
