http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/abhishek-singhvis-telecom-connection-lawyer-in-all-major-cases-for-past-20-years/articleshow/28769965.cms
For almost four years in the run up to last Monday's Delhi High Court ruling
that allowed the Comptroller and Auditor General of India ( CAG) to audit telecom companies, Abhishek Manu
Singhvi was senior counsel marshalling arguments against this. "There is no easy
set of simple answers; there are highly debatable legal and constitutional
issues and a definitive apex court judgement is the only thing that will provide
uniformity, stability and certainty," he says, not unduly perturbed by the temporary set back.
The High Court ruling is a rare one
that went against the senior counsel who has been involved in most significant
telecom litigations—and there have been plenty—over the past two decades.
Broadly speaking, four big issues—CDMA and GSM technology related arguments,
revenue share and one-time spectrum charge related cases, the Vodafone tax imbroglio
and the 2G scam—have shaped the course of the telecom industry over 20 years.
Singhvi, 55, has been at the forefront of the court proceedings in all these
issues, mostly on the side of various leading private telecom companies. Today,
he is representing Bharti, Vodafone and Idea Cellular on three major issues: charge of
one-time spectrum fees, 3G intra-circle roaming agreement and license renewals.
The combined financial impact of these cases may accrue to over Rs 1,00,000
crore.
Other lawyers including Harish Salve, Iqbal Chawla, Soli Sorabjee are also equally active and influential in the
telecom space. But Singhvi - with earnings of more than Rs 70 crore in FY13 -
pays more tax than any lawyer in the country. Singhvi is also the spokesman of
the Congress party, a
role he has handled for 13 years. Ironically, in many of his recent telecom
cases Singhvi has fought against the government, led by the very political party
he represents. "The legal profession is different from my political career," different from my political career," he says. "A practitioner of law should be
able to argue on any side that appoints him, irrespective of the lawyer's
personal stance or leanings."
BJP's Piyush Goel, also the opposition
treasurer, comes to Singhvi's defence: "There is no reason to point a finger at
Mr. Singhvi if he represents against the government. He is an officer of the
Court and he has to argue for whoever appoints him."
Shaping the
industry
Over the years, Singhvi's arguments have influenced the way the industry has
evolved. TV Ramachandran, former secretary of the Cellular Operators Association
of India, recalls one incident where Singhvi contributed to the birth of TRAI,
the industry regulator. "(In 1996) the DoT lumped up a 25 times higher charge
for calling a landline from a mobile. The judge said that there should be a
techno-economic regulator to decide this," recalls Ramachandran.
"Singhvi, who was counsel for the government, didn't argue the point. Lordship, he said, I ask my
client to get the bill formed." The TRAI bill was passed three months later.
"(Before the case) we had been trying for the bill for a good three to four
years," recalls Ramachandran, who has been interacting with Singhvi since 1996.
