Attorney general Soli Sorabjee told the Supreme Court yesterday that the government would rather have the court examine allegations of irregularities in the Uttar Pradesh telecom project bid instead of appointing a committee. The court has decided to give a final hearing on the dispute on November 10.
Punjab Communications Ltd, a public sector undertaking, claimed that it had offered the best scheme out of 14 contenders. However, some officials in the Department of Telecommuni- cations, favouring multinational contenders, had allegedly manipulated the decisions of the evaluation committees and scuttled the project. The scheme was to install digital telecommunication facilities at 4,000 villages in the underdeveloped regions of the state.
At the last hearing, the Centre told the bench, consisting of Justice S B Majumdar and Justice Jagannadha Rao, that the attorney general was examining the court's suggestion of appointing a committee to resolve the dispute. It also told the court that the government had informed the Asian Development Bank, which had extended a Rs 600 crore loan, that the project was subject to litigation.