Two days after attributing the difficult conditions facing the telecom sector to a Supreme Court judgement, Telecom and IT Minister Kapil Sibal today said that disagreeing with the verdict did not mean he has attacked the court.
"Nobody has attacked any court. If I disagree with contours of a judgement that doesn't mean I'm attacking the court. Nobody has attacked the court," Sibal said in an interview to NDTV 24x7.
Earlier this week, the minister had said at an industry event the telecom sector was the "golden goose which laid the golden egg. The Supreme Court ensured that the golden goose will never lay golden egg again for a little while."
Sibal agreed that his comments referred to the 2G spectrum allocation case. The apex court had cancelled 122 telecom licences in February last year in the case.
He said: "If you were to read Harvard Law Review or any law review articles, you will find series of articles criticising the conclusion...Of Supreme Court. I have never heard of anybody in the media, anywhere in the world say that criticising a judgement or not agreeing with judgement is criticising the court.
"This is part of freedom of expression. I am entitled to say...The govt is entitled to say they don't agree with the logic of the judgement."
The Minister said the telecom sector is reeling under debt of Rs 2,50,000 and the government is trying very hard to rebuild the sector.
Foreign Direct investments in the telecom sector plummeted by 96 per cent to USD 70.46 million in the April- November 2012 period, from USD 1,987.18 million during the same period a year ago.
Sibal had also held report of Comptroller Auditor General as well as the media responsible for creating an environment of fear among ministers and bureaucrats in taking decision.
