The cancellation of illegal 122 telecom licences by the Supreme Court on 2nd February 2012 has been a slap on the face of the UPA government. The baffled government is trying to come out of it by making the issue more complicated by making a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court seeking clarifications on many issues directly or indirectly connected with the case. It has referred to the SC seeking clarifications on all licences which have been granted without auction since 1993. There are about 102 licences on which the Presidential Reference seeks advice from the apex court. These include 22 licenses of Airtel, 8 of Airtel, 17 of Tatas, 18 of Reliance 12 of Vodafone, 2 of Idea, 1 of loop etc. Incidentally, the licences allotted to BSNL and MTNL is not included in the Reference.

It seems that the Government had made this unusual reference to complicate the issue so that it can save itself from the 2G Scam or at least making it impossible to complete the case and punish the guilty.