You have to pay for wrong calls too, Telenor

"The multinational may have only itself to blame for its angst."

Telenor is upset with last week's Supreme Court judgment cancelling its licence, along with 121 others, to provide telecom services in the country.  The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : You have to pay for wrong calls too, Telenor. Telenor's angst is understandable given the financial losses that it is now bound to suffer but then the company has only itself to blame.

"Caveat emptor" or buyer beware is a first principle in any commercial transaction and Uninor is guilty of ignoring it. Telenor probably believed - mistakenly in hindsight - that the Indian system can be “worked” any which way.

There is also an incorrect view among some that the judgment sends all the wrong signals to overseas investors. The judgment clearly underlines the supremacy of law in the country just as much as it provides clarity in future policy, something that foreign investors should welcome.

‘Wholly arbitrary, capricious and contrary to public interest’

This article reproduces excerpts from the concluding paragraphs of the Supreme Court’s verdict cancelling 122 2G licences issued during A. Raja’s term as Minister of Communications and Information Technology.

In matters involving award of contracts or grant of licence or permission to use public property, the invocation of first-come-first-served principle has inherently dangerous implications. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : ‘Wholly arbitrary, capricious and contrary to public interest’

The duty of the Court to exercise its power in larger public interest and ensure that the institutional integrity is not compromised the State and its agencies/instrumentalities must always adopt a rational method for disposal of public property and no attempt should be made to scuttle the claim of worthy applicants.

Fruit of the poisonous tree

There is hardly any industry in India today where unscrupulous companies have not sought to use their nexus with elected leaders and government officials to get ahead in their quest for quick and easy profits. 

The lesson for corporate India from the Supreme Court's landmark judgment is that there is little to be gained — and a lot to be lost — from doing business this way and hope that it will forever remain etched in their institutional memory. The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Fruit of the poisonous tree: 

On the other hand, even if we accept that Mr. Raja took the UPA leadership for a ride, what is inexplicable — and unforgivable — is the government's failure immediately to investigate the scam despite its broad contours being so visible. 

Even after the Comptroller & Auditor General's (CAG) magisterial report exposed what had transpired, senior ministers refused to accept the fact that there had been any loss to the exchequer.