2012 yearender: SC blow to govt in high-profile cases, death to Ajmal Kasab

Judgements giving a body blow to the government in the high-profile Vodafone tax case and scrapping of 2G spectrum licences hogged the limelight in the Supreme Court which in 2012 also brought the curtains down on the 26/11 case by sending the lone surviving Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab to the gallows.

The 25-year-old Kasab's nearly four-year-long legal battle for life ended on August 29 and 84 days after the verdict he was hanged on November 21 for the crime of "unprecedented enormity" planned in Pakistan.

While the day-to-day hearing in Kasab's case was being watched, the then Army Chief V K Singh in an unprecedented move dragged the government to the top court where he lost his battle on the age row, forcing him to withdraw his petition.

The apex court told Gen Singh that he cannot resile on his commitment that he would abide by the government decision to treat his date of birth as May 10, 1950 and rejected the contention of "prejudice" and "perversity".

However, before the age row, the year began on a bad note for the government which lost its tax case of Rs 11,000 crore against telecom major Vodafone and the apex court scrapping the 2G spectrum licences allocated during the tenure of A Raja as telecom minister.

The government's woes did not end here as its pleas for review of the Vodafone and 2G verdict fell flat.

After failing to get any relief in the spectrum case, the Centre came out with Presidential Reference to overcome the direction in the 2G verdict that all natural resources have to be allotted through the route of "auction".

There was some solace for the government when on September 29, a five-judge Constitution Bench came out with the opinion that auction is not the only method for allocating natural resources to private companies and made it clear that its 2G verdict was confined to spectrum and not to other resources.

... contd.

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