India's court ruling upholds transparency
Government must rethink its priorities when favouring allies with key portfolios
The barristers retained by the Congress party may do their best to find countless interpretations of the Supreme Court's verdict on the irregular granting of spectrum licences, but the decision to cancel 122 licences by the country's apex judicial institution has damaged the credibility of the government further.
The primary lesson here is two-fold: Governments must maintain transparency in decision-making and rethink their priorities when granting allies key economic ministerial portfolios as payback. The court's decision is bad-timing for the Congress party as it participates in the ongoing assembly elections.
The judiciary's ruling shows that they will be monitoring all future transactions with zero tolerance. The stern message sent to the telecommunications market ensures that the way ahead will be favourable for serious players only. In keeping with this, the first come-first served policy should be seen as archaic. The spoils must go to the highest bidder as a matter of simple economics thus helping the government to increase its revenue.
Fair transactions in auctioning the country's airwaves should earn future governments reliability in the eyes of foreign players. Currently, credible companies who teamed up with corrupt Indian counterparts would be viewing their future participation with pessimism. The presence of noteworthy entrants in the market will lead to increased, but fair, competition. India's economy will also receive a significant boost from investment in the telecom sector. This, in turn, should be seen as good news for consumers who will benefit from competitive call rates.
Politically, the court's ruling hints that there are multiple players in this scam and not just the former telecommunications minister A. Raja who is in jail. These culprits will be revealed in the coming weeks. It also highlights the weakness of the opposition, because if they were strong, and not tarred by the brush of corruption themselves, the government could have been toppled from power.
