Supreme Court ruling vindicates govt. stand: Sibal

Hailing the Supreme Court judgement on auction of natural resources, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday said the court has brought “Constitutional clarity” on the issue.

Stating that the Court has upheld the government’s stand, Mr. Sibal said it has opined that auction was not the only way for allocating natural resources.

Institutions like CAG “might have perhaps unwittingly, erroneously interpreted the Supreme Court judgement relating to the 2G case and thought that all natural resources must be auctioned,” he said. “The Supreme Court has provided Constitutional clarity today and we welcome it.”

Welcoming the Supreme Court decision, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said the judgement “vindicates” the position that the government had taken.

“When a state has to take decisions, public good has to be kept in mind... The Supreme Court has also upheld, that it is public good which is important, and revenue maximisation is subservient to that, not the other way round,” he said. “And all national resources (are) not meant to be auctioned.”

Mr. Sharma said there has been lot of confusion, some deliberately created, and also fed by some elements of political forces who are opposed to the government.

“...There was never any doubt in my mind, or in the mind of my colleagues of the government, (that) there was no Constitutional mandate for auction,” he added.