Supreme Court Denies Centre's Spectrum Allocation Application

• 02 May 2024

On 1st May, 2024, the Supreme Court declined to receive the Centre's application to allow administrative allocation of spectrum, citing the 2G case precedent.

Key Points

• Court Rejects Centre's Request: Registrar invoked Supreme Court Rules to reject Centre's plea for administrative spectrum allocation, emphasizing the necessity of transparent auctions.
• Registrar's Authority: Registrar declined the application under Order XV Rule 5 of the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, citing lack of reasonable cause or frivolous content.
• Grounds for Allocation: Centre argued for administrative allocation, citing national interests such as security and disaster preparedness.
• Spectrum Usage Categories: Centre highlighted sui generis spectrum usage cases, suggesting auctions may not be optimal for all scenarios.
• Precedent from 2012: 2G case judgment and subsequent Constitutional Bench ruling affirm auction as the preferred method for spectrum allocation.
• Upholding Transparency: Court reaffirmed auction as the standard for allocating scarce resources like spectrum, ensuring fairness and equal opportunity.