Supreme Court says auction route is not the only method for allocation of spectrum

The Supreme Court has said that the auctioning is not the only method for the allocation of natural resources such as spectrum among the companies.

The Supreme Court was responding to a Presidential Reference after the on 2G spectrum allocation. The five-judge bench of Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia said that auction method of natural resources for maximisation of revenue is good but other methods for allocation of natural resources cannot be ruled out.

The Justice D K Jain said "auction could not be elevated as a constitutional mandate". The court further said that, the economic policy of the government can only be struck down if it is arbitrary and capricious. Institutions like CAG "might have perhaps unwittingly, erroneously interpreted the S C judgment 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."

Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said that "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."

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/legal-news/item/676-supreme-court-says-auction-route-is-not-the-only-method-for-allocation-of-spectrum.html