According to highly placed sources, the Attorney General has already been briefed about the case and is expected to give the green signal regarding his availability based on his schedule for representing India at the WTO on the patents issue.

The Attorney General has been approached as part of a fresh approach to the case after the new BJP government has taken over. The move is also being viewed in some circles as an effort to give the case a new lease of life as MTNL and DoT officials had earlier felt that their viewpoint had not been properly presented before the TRAI.

The TRAI had, in February,invalidated the cellular licence granted to MTNL by DoT in October last stating that as per the TRAI Act the "need and timing" for a new service provider would have to be recommended by the TRAI. The TRAI said in its judgement relating to a case filed by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) that DoT had not sought any recommendations from the TRAI before introducing another cellular operator (MTNL).

This had upset the MTNL apple cart as the company had entered the overseas market with a GDR issue in December using its cellular foray as the main project for which funds were being raised. With the TRAI staying any further action on this project, the MTNL was caught in a tight spot.

DoT later challenged the TRAI order in the Delhi High Court stating that the TRAI did not have any jurisdiction over licensing issues which was the sole domain of DoT on behalf of the Government. In fact, the TRAI and DoT had been on loggerheads as most of the judgements pronounced by the TRAI, where companies hadrepresented against DoT on the latter's attempt to encash their bank guarantees for non-fulfilment of tender conditions, had gone against DoT.