The Group of Ministers, which met to decide Government's future course of action on 2G licences, could not arrive at a decision.

The meeting was attended by the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, the Telecom Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, and the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

The meeting was called by the Finance Minister to discuss fallout of the Supreme Court order quashing 122 telecom licences. Among other issues, the Government has to decide whether or not to file a review petition against the apex court's verdict. The other issue is whether or not to refund the entry fee paid by the operators whose licences are being cancelled.

“The Government is concerned as foreign companies, including Etisalat and Telenor, are dragging their Indian partners to court. This could put the Government in a tough position as the Indian partners are likely to shift blame on Government's policy,” said a source.

However, no decision could be taken due to the absence of the Law Minister, Mr Salman Khurshid, and Attorney-General Mr G E Vahanvati. Mr Sibal refused to comment on the deliberations.

Mr R Chandrashekhar, Secretary, Department of Telecom, said “If anything happens, we will let you know.”

The Supreme Court had faulted Government's first-come-first-served policy while cancelling the licences. As a result, the affected operators could claim damages from the Government for giving faulty licences. Some of the foreign players have invested billions of dollars in rolling out their network and claim they knew nothing about the alleged fraud committed in the licence allocation process.

The issues have huge ramification for Government's revenues and future policy making. For example, if the entry fee has to be refunded then the Finance Ministry will have to find Rs 9,000 crore.

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