The Cabinet has asked the Solicitor-General of India to give his views on whether a Presidential reference should be taken on the Supreme Court's order on 2G licences.
While the Telecom Ministry is in favour of seeking a Presidential reference, some members of the Cabinet wanted a legal view on the matter before taking a final decision.
Clarificatory petition
The Telecom Ministry has already filed a clarificatory petition and a review petition on the apex court's order cancelling 122 licences issued on or after January 2008.
“The two petitions and the Presidential reference are for different purposes. While the two petitions have already been filed, the Cabinet would not take a decision on the Presidential reference till the Solicitor-General's views are heard,” said a top Government official, after the meeting on Saturday.
No date has been set for the next Cabinet meeting where the Solicitor- General will present his views.
The clarificatory petition seeks time beyond the four-month deadline set by the Supreme Court for conducting the auction. The Department of Telecom has said it will need 400 days to complete the exercise.
DoT petition
In the review petition, the DoT has challenged Supreme Court's observation on first-come-first-served policy.
The DoT has claimed that the court has entered into the exclusive domain of the executive and beyond the limits of judicial review.
It contended that the Supreme Court has erred while prescribing auction as the only method for distribution of all natural resources as it is contrary to the principle of separation of powers embodied in the Constitution.
Larger issues
According to an official source, the Presidential reference does not challenge the apex court's ruling but raises larger issues that have emerged from the court's order.
He, however, declined to give details of the issues on grounds that it was still under the Cabinet's consideration.
But legally the Supreme Court can reject the two petitions and the Presidential reference without giving any explanation.