Singh seeks advice on 2G verdict appeal

Prime Minister Manohan Singh has sought advice from Attorney General G E Vahanvati within a week on whether the government should, in a review petition, ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its verdict on the 2G spectrum scam.

The apex court last Thursday had ordered all 122 telecoms licences issued under the scandal-tainted 2008 sale be revoked, delivering a decisive blow against a government that has been grappling to leave behind the fiasco that has roiled the nation for more than a year.

The landmark verdict, that sent ripples through business and political establishments in the country for its unprecedented retroactive ambit, also set a four-month deadline for the administration to respond to requests to prosecute government servants.

The Supreme Court in the judgement had earlier pulled up the Prime Minister's Office for taking nearly 16 months to respond to a request by Janata Dal president Subramaniam Swamy that sight permission to prosecute former telecoms minister A Raja over the swindle.

Raja, the alleged mastermind of the scam, is now lodged in jail pending trial for selling cellphone spectrum to companies at below-market rates in lieu of kickbacks, in a sale process that could have cost the treasury as much Rs 1.76 lakh crore.

Swamy, a sworn enemy of the ruling Congress party who had sent in his request to prosecute Raja in November 2008 since under Indian law it is necessary for the Prime Minister to sanction the prosecution of a union minister, finally took the government to the Supreme Court.

"The concerned officers in the Prime Minister´s Office kept the matter pending and then took the shelter of the fact that the CBI had registered the case and the investigation was pending," the court observed while delivering its judgement.

However, the court made it a point to vindicate Singh's position, saying that he "is not expected to personally look into the minute details of every case placed before him and has to depend on his advisers and other officers."

In his correspondence with the Attorney General, Singh, whose spotless image has taken a dent over the scandal, has also asked if he is expected to take any action against those who were his closest aides at the time, media reports said.

Even though the Supreme Court ruling potentially affects fewer than five percent of users in the world´s second biggest cellular market, it risks damaging investor confidence besides turning the heat back on a scam-battered coalition government.