SC verdict on 2G Prez reference: Key takeaways

The judgment was delivered with a clear majority - all 5 judges of the constitution bench have answered the four key questions and justice JS Khehar has also expanded adding a couple of supplementary points. What are the key takeaways from this? CNBC-TV18's Siddarth Zarabi reports.

The biggest takeaway is that this is a big relief for a government. This follows the previous 2G cancellation order of the Supreme Court that had reached a situation which implied that it would have to auction every natural resource whenever it decided to dispose them for public good.
The Supreme Court has cited previous orders and clarified that auction is not the only way for alienation or disposal of natural resources. It also added the constitution does not mandate auction as the only method and the word used in the constitution is 'disposal'. 
Therefore, it clearly stated that as far as coal auctions are concerned there could be a situation where the government could decide not to auction coal blocks. This is because it believes that a auction process could push up revenues and while it may maximize revenues for the government of the day it would not serve public good.
This is essentially because a significant part of the opinion, which was read out in the open court by Justice DK Jain clarifies that revenue maximisation is not the objective and should not be the only objective in constitutional terms for disposal of natural resources. Take this logic and apply it to hypothetical situations of auctions not just for coal, but for any other natural resource, which is especially scarce.
Therefore, the governments in the future could rely on the opinion on the presidential reference and say that the executive is free to exercise its judgment, use economic logic, keep public good in mind and deliver an order accordingly.
Justice DK Jain also expanded on the fact that the decisions of the executive are open to being questioned and they have to stand to the test of the constitutionality. However, it is not as if the executive can be forced to adopt only one method.  This has no implications with regard to the 2G cancellation of all spectrum licenses. The SC has finally said that while this petition is maintainable and also acknowledged the fact that there were some questions that will need clarity and finally doing that today.