The Supreme Court today sought the replies of the Centre and various telecom firms on a plea challenging the allocation of 2G spectrum beyond the entry level of 4.4 MHz and 6.2 MHz without charging additional fee.
A bench of justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya also issued notice to the Ministry of Finance, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and various telecom firms including Airtel, Vofafone, Idea, Loop, Tata on a plea for reclaiming all the spectrum quantity allocated beyond the contracted quantum of 6.2 MHz from the telecom firms.
The petition filed by advocate Yakesh Anand has challenged the Delhi High Court's decision, refusing to entertain his plea.
It also sought direction to the government to recover Rs 36,993 crore, as estimated by CAG, for the excess spectrum held by these telecos.
The petitioner has sought CBI probe into the alleged conspiracy between operators and DoT officials for allotment of excess spectrum for the period between 1996 to 2008.
The high court, on December 21 last year, had refused to hear the PIL saying the Supreme Court is monitoring a case relating to the grant of 2G licences and, moreover, the trial in the case too was on.
The court had brushed aside Anand's contention that the substance of the case being monitored by the apex court is different.
