In a setback to the government, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition filed on behalf of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for review of its verdict pulling up the PMO over the delay in deciding Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy’s plea for granting sanction to prosecute former communications minister A. Raja in the 2G scam case.
It also dismissed petitions by seven telecom firms seeking review of its verdict cancelling 122 2G licences. A special bench monitoring the 2G case, however, agreed to hear the government’s review petition for clarification of directions regarding policy on allocation of natural resources to private parties.
The court had said all natural resources should be allocated through open bidding, while the government said the direction was contrary to the constitutional separation of powers as this was purely a policy matter falling in the executive’s domain.
A bunch of 10 review petitions, including one by the government and one on the PM’s behalf, were considered by a bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and K.S. Radhakrishnan on Tuesday, but the orders were made available only Wednesday.