OPINION

D.K. Jain, J. [For S.H. Kapadia, CJI, Himself, Dipak Misra & Ranjan Gogoi, JJ.]-In exercise of powers conferred under Article 143(1) of the Constitution of India, the President of India has on 12th April, 2012, made the present Reference. The full text of the Reference (sans the annexures) is as follows:

“WHEREAS in 1994, the Department of Telecommunication, Government of India (“GOI”), issued 8 Cellular Mobile Telephone Services Licenses (“CMTS Licenses”), 2 in each of the four Metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai for a period of 10 years (the “1994 Licenses”). The 1994 licensees were selected based on rankings achieved by them on the technical and financial evaluation based on parameters set out by the GoI in the tender and were required to pay a fixed licence fee for initial three years and subsequently based on number of subscribers subject to minimum commitment mentioned in the tender document and licence agreement. The 1994 Licenses issued by GoI mentioned that a cumulative maximum of upto 4.5 MHz in the 900 MHz bands would be permitted based on appropriate justification. There was no separate upfront charge for the allocation of Spectrum to the licensee