Schedule for 2G auction submitted to court: Telecom Secy

Excerpts from After the Bell on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show »

In an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18, Telecom Secretary R Chandrasekhar says that they have drawn up a schedule of auction and have filed an interlocutory application today. "The schedule of auction that we have drawn up spans a period of about 400 days, which we believe is the best estimate of the timeline required for an efficient process to cover all the steps required for the auction," he said.

He goes on to say that the application seeks directions from the court so that their actions are in accordance with the broader plan.

Chandrasekhar also says that they plan to file a review petition tomorrow through which they will ask question about the policy and policy making, the role of various arms of the government and regarding the quashing of licenses.

Below is an edited transcript of his interview with Malvika Jain. Also watch the accompanying video.

Q: On the 2nd of February the Supreme Court decided to cancel 122 licenses and it has been in the news, it has been a topic of debate and discussion that there is something that the government will do about it. We now learn that government has taken the first step. If you could please first give us the sense of what that first step is very clearly please?

A: Today we are filing an interlocutory application. Essentially through this application we are placing before the court the schedule of auction that we have drawn up, which spans a period of about 400 days, which we believe is the best estimate of the timeline required for an efficient process to cover all the steps required for the auction.

This application also seeks appropriate clarifications or directions from the court so that we can take steps to implement their order in accordance with the broad plan that has been drawn up. We are also looking at the filing of a review petition and in all probability we should be able to file a review petition tomorrow.

Q: If we were to look at the interlocutory application that you are in the process of filing today, it raises two questions. One is that the processes of auction in itself, there have been internal discussions within the corridors of the government that maybe in all natural resources cannot be auctioned effectively. Is that a point that you have put in your clarificatory application - one and second question is that when we talk of the auction timeline, it is about nine and a half months if I am correct more than what the court had recommended. So can we say in a sense that the government has sought extension of the timeline and what happens to the cancellation of licenses which also had to take place within four months?

A: Firstly it is our impression that the court has not indicated a specific timeline for the auction as such. The court has indicated a period after which the directions would be operative. Since the timeline for the auction is 400 days, we are bringing this to the attention of the court and seeking appropriate directions.

As far as the review itself is concerned, the review is on matters other than the specific directions of the court regarding quashing of the licenses and relates to the question of policy and policy making.

Q: But what about the questions of auction, the auction process because it is a fact there have been ministers who have gone on record to say that maybe auction is not the best process when it comes to allocation of natural resources?

A: As I said, the questions that are being asked in the review petition relate to policy, policy making and the role of various arms and the issues which are taken into consideration in policy making. These questions are being raised in the review petition and this we expect to file by tomorrow.