A bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur junked the petition of NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), which challenged the government’s decision to allow the company to offer voice services on its 4G spectrum.
The apex court, however, asked the government to look into the issue of Spectrum Usage Charge (SUC) but did not pass any order on this.
The PIL, filed in 2014 through advocate Prashant Bhushan, had sought quashing of the permission granted by the Government to Reliance for providing voice telephony on Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum. It also pitched for a court-monitored CBI investigation in the alleged Rs 40,000 crore scam.
The central government cleared the liberalization of spectrum this week - allocated without auction to telecom firms - at TRAI's recommended price with the balance being collected after deriving market rate through bidding.
The government's decision taken will allow Reliance Communications (RCom) to liberalize its spectrum in four telecom circles, where auction determined price is not available, for Rs. 1,300 crores.
A liberalized spectrum permits telecom firms to utilize any technology to deliver mobile services like 3G and 4G. Besides, they will be able to introduce new technologies and share and trade it with other operators for its efficient use.
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