Supreme Court cancelled all 2G licences today issued by Raja

In a historic verdict, the Supreme Court on Today cancelled all 122 2G telecom licences granted during the tenure of former telecom minister A Raja in 2008.

An apex court bench comprising of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly held that 122 licences for 2G spectrum were granted in ‘arbitrary and unconstitutional manner’.

However, affected companies have been given four months to enter into talks with government based on current market rates.

The court directed TRAI to make fresh recommendation on grant of 2G licences, while making it clear that the allocation of spectrum will be done through auction.

Companies which stand to lose their licences include Videocon, Swan, Idea, Tata and Loop.

The bench had earlier issued notices to 11 private telecom companies, which were granted licences despite allegedly being ineligible to secure them or had failed to launch services within stipulated time-frame.

The private telecom companies which were issued notices included Etisalat, Uninor, Loop Telecom, Videocon, S-Tel, Allianz Infra, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices, Sistema Shyam Teleservices, Dishnet Wireless, Vodafone-Essar along with TRAI.