Author: Navin Upadhyay
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: June 17, 2005
Intense political lobbying is on
for the appointment of chairman of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and
Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). Sources said Chief Justice of India RC Lahoti
had forwarded the name of Justice Santosh Hegde for the post last month,
but the UPA government was yet to decide on the apex court's recommendation.
As per the procedure, the government
follows the recommendation of the CJI in the appointment of TDSAT chairman.
The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) takes the final decision.
Sources said the Chief Justice set
in motion the process of appointment of the new chairman by forwarding
the name of Justice Santosh Hegde at the end of justice DP Wadhwa's term
as TDSAT chairman on May 4. The TDSAT chairman has to be a former justice.
Justice Hegde fits the bill because when his name was forwarded, he was
just four weeks from superannuation. Thursday was the last working day
for Justice Hegde in the Supreme Court.
Sources said a powerful politician
was lobbying for the appointment of Justice (retired) UC Banerjee, who
is probing the Godhra carnage, as the next TDSAT chairman. The delay by
the government in clearing Justice Santosh Hedge's name assumed significance
in the backdrop of such speculation doing the rounds in the political circles.
Justice Banerjee is already in the
eye of storm following the report that the Railway Board had given him
the go-ahead to undertake a 10-day tour of Europe and Japan to study "overcrowding"
in trains, ostensibly to enable him to submit his final report on Godhra
train fire.
Sources said subsequent realisation
that TDSAT chairman's office could not be held by anyone heading another
commission/post has now tied the government's hands. But in the process
precious time was lost in filling up the vacant post of TDSAT chairman.
The delay in filling up the vacant
post has brought to a halt the dispute settlement procedure involving both
service providers and consumers. One of the important matters pending before
the TDSAT is about the access deficit charges. Sources in the Department
of Telecom said the ADC issue needs to be urgently settled because the
confusion was creating a lot of problem.
The TDSAT is empowered to adjudicate
any dispute between a licensor and a licensee, between two or more service
providers, and between a service provider and a group of consumers.
