2G:SC pulls up TRAI for 'lopsided' approach in recommendations
The Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for adopting a 'lopsided' approach in recommending grant of 2G spectrum at 2001 prices and methodology which suffered from several deficiencies.
"To say the least, the entire approach adopted by TRAI was lopsided and contrary to the decision taken by the Council of Ministers and its recommendations became a handle for the the then Minister of C&IT A. Raja and the officers of the DoT who virtually gifted away the important national asset at throw-away prices," a bench of justices G. S. Singhvi and A. K. Ganguly said.
The bench, which quashed the 122 2G spectrum licences granted during Raja's tenure as Telecom Minister, said the DoT and the Ministry of Finance were required to discuss and finalise the spectrum pricing formula as per the decision of the Council of Ministers in 2003.
"Recommendations dated August 28, 2007, show that as per TRAI's own assessment, the existing system of spectrum allocation criteria, pricing methodology and the management system suffered from a number of deficiencies and there was an urgent need to address the issues linked with spectrum efficiency and its management and yet it decided to recommend the allocation of spectrum at the price determined in 2001," it said.
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