Supreme Court extends 2G auction deadline to Jan 11

The Supreme Court Monday allowed the government to complete the 2G spectrum auction by Jan 11, 2013.

The apex court said it will initiate contempt proceedings if the government failed to complete the auction process within the new deadline.

"Exemplary costs may be imposed in the event of failure to complete auction process within the deadline," a division bench of justices G.S. Singhvi and K.S. Radhakrishnan said in its ruling. The government had sought time until Nov 12 to begin the auction and 40 days from the completion of auction to allocate frequencies.

The court had earlier set Aug 31 as the date by which the auction had to be completed. But the department of telecommunications (DoT) had asked for an extension.  The Supreme Court ruled that operators whose licences would have been cancelled Sep 7 could continue their services till Jan 18. 

The Supreme Court had cancelled 122 licences Feb 2 and ordered the government to redistribute the licences through an auction process. It had set a deadline of June 2 which was later extended to Aug 31 on the DoT's plea.

Earlier during the day, the government had laid out an information memorandum, detailing the rules and regulations for the auction and potential bidders. The DoT said it will issue a notice inviting applications Sep 28 and the last date of submission of application will be Oct 19.

The final list of bidders will be announced Nov 6. This will be followed by a mock auction Nov 7 and 8 and thereafter the e-auction of 1800 MHz band will take place Nov 12. The start of e-auction of 800 MHz band will happen two days after close of the 1800 MHz band auction.

The payment of the successful bid amount will have to be done within 10 days days of the close of the respective e-auctions, the DoT added.  It had set a deadline of June 2 which was later extended to Aug 31 on the Department of Telecom (DoT's) plea. The DoT has yet again sought an extension.

In its information memorandum, the DoT said it will issue a notice inviting applications Sep 28 and the last date of submission of application will be Oct 19. The final list of bidders will be announced Nov 6. This will be followed by a mock auction Nov 7 and 8 and thereafter the e-auction of 1800 MHz band will take place Nov 12.

The start of e-auction of 800 MHz band will happen two days after close of the 1800 MHz band auction. The payment of the successful bid amount will have to be done within 10 days days of the close of the respective e-auctions, the DoT added.