Issues raised in reference go beyond those raised in clarificatory petition filed in Supreme Court The cabinet on Tuesday cleared a request by the department of telecommunications (DoT) for a presidential reference on the 2 February Supreme Court judgement cancelling 122 licence allocated to nine companies in January 2008, in an attempt aimed at clarifying seven issues arising from that order. One of the seven involves the allotment of telecom licences between...

-The Economic Times   The national auditor is expected to stick to its controversial estimate of Rs 10.7 lakh crore as gains accrued to companies due to allocation of coal blocks on government discretion instead of auctioning them, an official in the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) office said.  This is set to further embarrass the UPA government that has been mired in a series of controversies. "The report is not yet final,...

The apex decision-making body of the communications ministry has cleared the proposal to grant more powers to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and enable the watchdog to act like a civil court.  This puts TRAI on par with the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Competition Commission of India and permits the telecom regulator to 'summon persons, examine them on oath, demand documents and evidence on affidavits...

The power of judicial review envelopes natural resource distribution The tsunami created by the 2G spectrum judgments of the the Supreme Court last week has almost mopped up the ripples they made in the legal sphere. However, they deserve respectful consideration for their discussion on two hot issues that have been agitating public mind in recent years. The first is the nature and ownership of natural resources, like air waves and spectrum,...

Government has decided to blacklist India's moon mission man Madhavan Nair and three other scientists after the former Isro head was held culpable for his role in spectrum worth Rs 15,000 crore being given for Rs 1,000 crore to private firm Devas. Two inquiries ordered by the government concluded that Nair had seriously erred in withholding details of the agreement between Isro's commercial arm Antrix and Devas for use of S-band...