The Centre today moved the Supreme Court for a four-month extension of the court’s August 31 deadline, to complete the process of fresh auctioning of 2G telecom spectrum licences.
An application by the telecom ministry said it needed time till November 12 to start the auction, and another 40 days to complete the procedure and allocate licences and spectrum.
The decision to approach the SC for extension of the August 31 deadline to complete the auction of the radiowaves was taken at a meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers on telecom on Tuesday. The application said the entire exercise would be completed in three months and 23 days.
The court on August 24 had extended its original June 2 deadline to August 31, refusing to grant 400 days to the government to complete the process of fresh auctioning.
A bench of judges G S Singhvi and K S Radhakrishnan had also said the existing licences for 2G spectrum would continue to be operational till September 7.
The apex court on February 2 had cancelled 122 licences for the 2G spectrum and had directed their fresh auctioning by June 2.
More From This Section
No delay in action: Govt
There has been no delay in taking action against those involved in the 2G spectrum scam, the government today told Parliament.
"As a result of investigation conducted so far, attachment has been made under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Investigations under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema), 1999 have been concluded in nine cases and show cause notices issued for alleged contravention of provisions of Fema,” Minister of State for Finance S S Palanimanickam said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.