MJ Antony has done well to highlight what the Supreme Court has said about public sector units like BSNL. In a case involving BSNL, the court has said that PSUs are increasingly subjected to the kind of litigation that private sector firms do not have to face. This, Antony says, flows from the view that PSUs are taken to be the “state” with all its obligations. This interpretation of what is called “instrumentality of state” is that the courts need to reinterpret. As long as PSUs are seen to be an arm of the state, they will always be subjected to such litigation — witness how so many of BSNL’s tenders end up in court as losing bidders try to stop the bids.
Rajesh Sharma, New Delhi