The PM, Raja, TRAI, telecom firms... the apex court lets no one off the hook The Supreme Court’s stinging judgement against the government in the 2G spectrum Scam case is an extremely significant attempt by the country’s highest court to curb the corrupt nexus between business and politics and will further damage the UPA’s already battered credibility. The court’s decision will not merely have far-reaching consequences on India’s political economy,...

Sending a clear message that the 2G spectrum allocation of 2008 is a Scam and not the result of a government policy decision, the Supreme Court today quashed the grant of 122 UAS licences and allocation of spectrum to 12 private companies. Even as the trial in the 2G case progresses in a Patiala House trial court in Delhi, a bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly held...

-The Times of India   Lanco, the company accused by Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) of illegitimately cornering contracts worth Rs 13,000 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar mission, has objected to the allegations and said "they were not crosschecked with the company and were wrongly perceived".  In a statement made to TOI, A Narasimhan, senior vice-president (corporate communications), said, "Lanco Group has equity participation in few of the companies...

-The Times of India   The SC order said quite clearly that then telecom minister A Raja "wanted to favour some companies at the cost of the public exchequer" and lists seven steps he took to ensure this happened. Here are the steps as the SC saw them:  1. After taking over as telecom minister, Raja directed that all applications received for UAS licences should be kept pending till receipt of the Trai's...

-The Indian Express   The cancellation of 2G licences by the Supreme Court has further exposed the big Scam, Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy said today. He said the Scam was a "collective failure" of the government, which "overlooked" warnings given by the CAG and the CVC on the issue. "Everyone had warned including the CAG and the CVC but the government overlooked it," Swamy said soon after the Supreme Court cancelled the 122...