LAHORE: Auction of licences for 3G and 4G spectrum technology in Pakistan has been challenged in the Supreme Court for being violative to set rules.

The Watan Party, through its counsel Barrister Zafarullah Khan, filed a petition and submitted that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had announced the qualified bidders on April 17.

He said "demand greater than supply allocation" was expected to be through auction going to be held on April 23.

The petitioner said the targeted revenue was $1.3 billion (approximately Rs126 billion), which was far less than expected due to government's desire to fill the gap in budget of 2013-14 through foreign exchange. He said the PTA was going to sell or auction 3G and 4G licences simultaneously and getting far little price as compared to India and Iraq.

He also alleged that many of the companies taking part in the bidding were defaulters on banks liabilities.

He said the auction was being held against the rules of PPRA (Public Procurement Regulatory Authority).

The petitioner requested the court to stop the government from 'illegal' auction and direct it to start the process afresh strictly in accordance with rules.