The Centre, whose auctioning of spectrum fetched Rs1.09 lakh crore, got the Supreme Court's permission on Thursday to finalise the auction and proceed with collection of security deposit from successful bidders to the tune of Rs28,000 crore.
This is seen as a major success after the apex court on February 27 this year restrained the Centre from finalising the auction till it decides various petitions filed by major telecom companies challenging the notice inviting tenders for spectrum in 17 circles.
The Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant modified its earlier order to the extent allowing the Centre to proceed with finalising the auction, announcing the successful bidder and collecting the security deposit. This is the first installment of the total auction money of Rs1.09 lakh crore the Centre is to get by March 31. The remaining amount is expected over the next coming years.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi who moved an application to modify the Court's order of February 27 on behalf of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology submitted that the auction witnessed "competitive and fierce" bidding from all players including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Reliance and Sistema Shyam, who have challenged the auction rules in Supreme Court.
Rohatgi informed the Court that the notice inviting tender for spectrum issued on January 9 this year had proved to be a "workable" one having generated Rs1.09 lakh crore from sale of spectrum. The Bench, however, told AG that even while the auction is finalised, Centre must intimate all successful bidders that the final result of auction will be subject to the outcome of the proceedings before it.
Those bidders who wish to join the proceedings were also allowed to do so as the Court reminded them that any order passed by it will affect their interests. Posting the matter for April 16, the Bench even asked the successful bidders to state their stand on the auction rules under challenge by way of an affidavit.
Senior advocates P Chidambaram and Gopal Jain who represented the telecom companies opposed any fresh intervention. Chidambaram submitted that the matter required urgent hearing as the companies have been compelled to deposit thousands of crores of rupees to be eligible for bidding which began on March 4. He contradicted AG's claim that the bidding was fierce and competitive and even disputed on the expected returns from the auction.
The telecom companies have maintained that the tender is faulty as it lays down conditions for bidding without specifying conditions for spectrum usage. Further, they argued that the rules aimed to benefit a single player in a particular telecom circle or knock out competitors from specific circles.