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New Delhi:<\/b> Senior advocate Harish Salve has blamed the Supreme Court for India\u2019s current economic slowdown, saying the decline began with the apex court judgment<\/span><\/a> in the 2012 2G spectrum case, when in one stroke, it cancelled 122 spectrum licences issued to telecom operators, redrawing India\u2019s telecom industry.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 I squarely blame the Supreme Court,\u201d he told fellow senior advocate Indira Jaising in an interview for her legal news website, The Leaflet<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI can understand holding people responsible for the wrong distribution of licenses in 2G\u2026 Blanket cancellation of licences where foreigners are investing\u2026 See, when a foreigner invested it was your rule which said he must have an Indian partner. The foreigner did not know how the Indian partner got a licence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cForeigners invested billions of dollars, and with one stroke of the pen, the Supreme Court knocked all of them out. That\u2019s when the decline of the economy began.\u201d<\/p>\n Back in 2010, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) revealed that the 2G scam had caused a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer. The Supreme Court had then cancelled 122 licences in February 2012, rejecting the arguments presented by Salve, who appeared<\/span><\/a> for 11 telecom companies in the case.<\/p>\n Five years later, in December 2017, a CBI trial court acquitted former Union ministers and key accused A. Raja and Kanimozhi, along with 15 others. In doing so, the trial court opined<\/span><\/a> that the scam was \u201cconjectured\u201d by some people who created a \u201cscam by artfully arranging a few selected facts and exaggerating things beyond recognition to astronomical levels\u201d.<\/p>\n Also read:<\/em><\/strong> Modi\u2019s principal secy was CBI\u2019s star witness in 2G case. But court ignored his testimony<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n In the interview, Salve also said that the Supreme Court has been \u201cinconsistent\u201d in dealing with commercial cases, causing \u201cgrave concern in the minds of investors\u201d.<\/p>\n He referred to the Supreme Court judgment on coal mines. \u201cYou cancelled coal mines by one stroke of the pen, without examining the merits of every case. Much genuine foreign investment in the coal industry went flat. Then what happened? Indonesian coal and other world coal prices softened up. It became cheaper to import\u2026,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cA few million people are without jobs in India. Indian coal mines are lying closed, and we are importing coal. That is putting pressure on the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n The Supreme Court had, in August 2014, declared<\/span><\/a> all 218 coal block allocations from 1993 to 2011 illegal and arbitrary. Subsequently, in September the same year, it cancelled<\/span><\/a> all but four of these allocations.<\/p>\n Salve also called the apex court judgment<\/span><\/a> cancelling iron ore mining leases in Goa \u201ca howler\u201d. Soon after the judgment, officials had claimed<\/span><\/a> that the state was facing Rs 1,500 crore revenue loss every month from the sector, besides jobs taking a hit.<\/p>\n He claimed that the Centre had sent seven senior secretaries to consult him on dealing with the Supreme Court judgment.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026And one of them said that this judgment will cost India 1 per cent plus of GDP, and that has happened,\u201d he added<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n world<\/span> Updated: Jul 15, 2019 07:49 IST<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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\nSC \u2018inconsistent\u2019 in dealing with commercial cases<\/b><\/h3>\n
Pakistan told to pay $6 billion fine in mining dispute<\/h1>\n
The ruling comes at a sensitive time for Pakistan, which earlier this month signed a $6 billion bailout agreement with the International Monetary Fund to stave off a looming balance of payments crisis.<\/h2>\n
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