Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday said the government would follow the timeline to auction the 2G spectrum. His statement comes minutes after the Supreme Court ruled that auction is not a must for all natural resources.
The minister also said that the court's judgement in February to cancel 122 telecom licences will be implemented.
Hailing Supreme Court judgement on auction of natural resources, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal today said the apex court has brought "constitutional clarity" on the issue.
Stating that the Court has upheld the government's stand, Sibal said it has opined that auction was not the only way for allocating natural resources.
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Institutions like CAG "might have perhaps unwittingly, erroneously interpreted the SC judgement relating to the 2G case and thought that all natural resources must be auctioned," he said. "The SC has provided Constitutional clarity today and we welcome it."
Welcoming the SC decision, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said the judgement "vindicates" the position that the government had taken.
"When a state has to take decisions, public good has to be kept in mind... The SC has also upheld, that it is public good which is important, and revenue maximisation is subservient to that, not the other way round," he said. "And all national resources (are) not meant to be auctioned."
Sharma said there has been lot of confusion, some deliberately created, and also fed by some elements of political forces who are opposed to the government.
"...there was never any doubt in my mind, or in the mind of my colleagues of the government, (that) there was no constitutional mandate for auction," he added.
(With inputs from PTI)
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