A new dimension in 2G spectrum case has emerged: SC

A new dimension has come out in the 2G spectrum case, the Supreme court today said after going through a government file pertaining to cancellation and restoration of license to Chennai-based telecom operator S-Tel during the tenure of A Raja.

A bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly went through the file which was placed before it on its direction after it was alleged that the Centre had adopted "arm-twisting" policy against the company for challenging DoT''s policy in 2G spectrum allocation in court.

"File placed by the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) says something more. It tells about a new dimension which is all together different," the court said and asked ASG Indira Jaising to bring the file tomorrow when the government would start arguing its case.

The apex court had yesterday asked the Department of Telecom (DoT) to place before it the file concerning cancellation and restoration of licence of S-Tel which had challenged the advancement of cut-off date for allocation of spectrum on first-cum-first-serve basis in September 2007.

A bench asked the government to produce the two letters written by the DoT on March 5, 2010, and April 15, 2010, after advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), said it reflected the "arm-twisting" policy adopted by Raja''s department against S-Tel.

Bhushan alleged S-Tel had challenged the government''s decision to advance the cut-off date for the spectrum allocation in which it had succeeded in the Delhi High Court but it had to compromise with the government after it adopted "arm-twisting" policy by cancelling its license.