Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology has asked government to bar the telecom operators from taking part in 3G/4G auction who are at defaulters list.
The parliamentary panel had asked the government to reconsider the auction which was rejected and the committee was told that the auction was going to take place in any case and now it could not be delayed.
Chairman of the committee Senator Zahid Khan had asked the government to hold the 3G and 4G auction separately. Standing committee also asked the government to halt the process till completion of the authority (PTA). The government whereas argued that there was no legal hitch stopping it from going for auction and the process was going to be completed on April 23.
Quoting the Lahore High Court order, Senator Syed Faisal Raza Abidi also opposed the auction process till the authority was made complete. He said a bureaucrat could not be inducted to an independent body like PTA, so how an additional charge could be given to a bureaucrat.
Secretary Law, Justice and Human Rights Zafarullah Khan informed the committee that Supreme Court of Pakistan had assigned the additional charge of Member (Compliance and Enforcement) PTA to the then Secretary Law, Justice and Human Rights Mohammad Raza Khan who was replaced by him.
The Establishment Division whereas informed that one consulting firm had been given assignment to shortlist applications for interview. The division had been requested to proceed further in the matter. Earlier, it was non-functional due to non-availability of one member since March 7, 2014. Accordingly Cabinet Division is proceeding ahead with the selection process in accordance with Schedule II of the PTA's Chairman & Members (Appointment & Qualification) Rules 2013.
The Chairman PTA Syed Ismail Shah told the committee that currently no telecom operators participating in the auction process was defaulter.