Telcos are at war: govt tells SC

"Telecom companies are at war," was how the Centre today described the ongoing legal battle in the Supreme Court on the issue of 2G spectrum allocation.

"There is some type of war which is going on among the service providers in the sector. Some of them are supporting the government policy (on 2G spectrum) and some of them are opposing," Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising told a Bench comprising justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly.

Jaising made the statement as she wanted the court's permission to advance the government's submission after all other parties holding divergent views finished their arguments.

"I would request the court to adopt this procedure as some of the companies would be in favour and others would oppose the government policy. It would be better for the government to argue after hearing the stands of the companies," she said.

The Bench, however, rejected the plea of the government saying the most important aspect of the case is relating to the policy and the government should first make its stand clear on this aspect.

"All the companies are beneficiaries of your policy. So, no one would oppose you (govt)," the Bench remarked.