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Govt takes dig at CAG, says Supreme Court order on resource auctions vindicates its stand
-The Times of India

The government on Thursday seized upon Supreme Court's ruling that auctions are not mandatory for allocating natural resources as a validation of its stand against the comptroller and auditor general's (CAG) findings in the 2G spectrum and Coalgate cases.

Talking to media after the verdict, telecom minister Kapil Sibal and law minister Salman Khurshid welcomed the judgment, suggesting it had vindicated the government's position.

Sibal said all constitutional authorities — a clear reference to the CAG — should take note of the judgment which he said has made it absolutely clear that government was not obliged to allocate natural resources through actions alone.

Although he did not name the CAG, the telecom minister appeared to be drawing upon Thursday's verdict to rebut CAG's critique of the government with regard to both the 2G and coalgate scams. He said the court has ruled that public good need not always be equated with maximization of revenue, a not-so-oblique reference to the auditor's "revenue loss" censure of the government over the 2G scam.

"The government can proceed with no fear of interference from other constitutional authorities," Sibal said, adding, "All constitutional authorities must keep the court judgment in mind."

When specifically asked whether he felt the government's position was vindicated, Sibal said, "It is not right to gloat over an SC order."

The show of modesty, however, could hardly conceal indications that government and Congress are set to use the SC response to the presidential reference to counter the CAG's damaging conclusion that the decision to allocate 2G spectrum in 2008 at 2001 rates cost the exchequer Rs 1.76 lakh crore.

A clear hint to that effect came from Khurshid who described the verdict as a "vindication of what the government has been saying". "Today, it is clear what we did was right and, therefore, is a relief and a comforting development," he said.

Although Khurshid struck a note of caution that the verdict may not necessarily bring a closure on the 2G case, saying that companies whose 2G licences were canceled had already filed curative petitions, the new-found confidence of the government, which had a hard time defending itself in the face of CAG's reports, was hard to miss.

Sibal asserted, "We continue to hold that the first-come first-served policy was good. The implementation and alleged criminal culpability are being examined." He stressed that the government intended to go ahead with the scheduled auction of 2G airwaves in accordance with the SC order scrapping 122 licences.

He drew satisfaction from the court ruling on the grounds that the SC did not lay down a particular method of allocation. "I have said before that the courts should not mandate the method of allocation," he said.