02-07-2010, 09:30 AM
The Delhi High Court has deferred the petition of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) seeking amendment in the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 to prevent cable operators from showing cricket matches without paying hefty transmission charges.
A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul posted the matter to 19 March, after Additional Solicitor General A S Chandhioke appearing on behalf of the Union Government told the court that the Secretary of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry who has undergone a surgery is on leave for a month.
The Court had on the last hearing told both the parties to hold mutual talks and come to an amicable solution to settle the crucial dispute between them.
Two petitions pending in the High Court filed by BCCI and Nimbus against Prasar Bharati and Union Of India have challenged the Sports Broadcasting Signals (mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act, 2007 making it mandatory for cable operators to transmit two prime channels of the public broadcaster: DD-1 and DD Sports.
The Cable Act binds the cable operators to compulsorily show both the prime channels of Doordarshan and the 2007 Act which says that any sports event of national importance will have to be shared with Doordarshan. By virtue of this, DD gets the signals of the sports events at a minimal fee.
The private operator Nimbus which has bought the BCCI rights for international cricket in India by paying hefty fees is deprived of its advertisers because it has to share the signals with DD which telecasts the matches simultaneously, the petitioners alleged.
Rajive Nayyar appearing on behalf of the cable operators told the court that the Committee of Secretaries of DD had in 2005 ruled that there shall be a mandatory sharing of signals on both the prime channels to safeguard the common interests of both the private operators as well as the viewers. ‘When we show the other events of DD, then why not the cricket matches which every viewer wants’, Nayyar asked.
A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul posted the matter to 19 March, after Additional Solicitor General A S Chandhioke appearing on behalf of the Union Government told the court that the Secretary of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry who has undergone a surgery is on leave for a month.
The Court had on the last hearing told both the parties to hold mutual talks and come to an amicable solution to settle the crucial dispute between them.
Two petitions pending in the High Court filed by BCCI and Nimbus against Prasar Bharati and Union Of India have challenged the Sports Broadcasting Signals (mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act, 2007 making it mandatory for cable operators to transmit two prime channels of the public broadcaster: DD-1 and DD Sports.
The Cable Act binds the cable operators to compulsorily show both the prime channels of Doordarshan and the 2007 Act which says that any sports event of national importance will have to be shared with Doordarshan. By virtue of this, DD gets the signals of the sports events at a minimal fee.
The private operator Nimbus which has bought the BCCI rights for international cricket in India by paying hefty fees is deprived of its advertisers because it has to share the signals with DD which telecasts the matches simultaneously, the petitioners alleged.
Rajive Nayyar appearing on behalf of the cable operators told the court that the Committee of Secretaries of DD had in 2005 ruled that there shall be a mandatory sharing of signals on both the prime channels to safeguard the common interests of both the private operators as well as the viewers. ‘When we show the other events of DD, then why not the cricket matches which every viewer wants’, Nayyar asked.