G E Vahanvati, the Attorney General of India, has stated that auction is not the only means to allocate spectrum. He made the comment while appearing before the Supreme Court, which is currently hearing the Presidential reference arising out of its ruling on the 2G spectrum case..
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had said that spectrum is a natural resource and all natural resources should be allotted to bidders through auction. Representing the government, Vahanvati told a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by S H Kapadia, the Chief Justice of India that the mode of allocation of a natural resource would depend upon the government?s objectives for which it is disposing off the asset in question.
Vahanvati further stated that the government was well within its rights to choose different methods of allocation for disposing off different resources.
