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Tag: HC

  • HCs’ informed about SC decision to transfer all DAS cases to Delhi HC

    HCs’ informed about SC decision to transfer all DAS cases to Delhi HC

    NEW DELHI: The registry of the Supreme Court has finally sent to all the concerned high courts the directive of the apex court for transfer of all cases seeking extension to digital addressable system for cable television to Delhi High Court with a view to avoid conflicting decisions’.

    Court registry officials told indiantelevision.com that the order of the apex court of early this month had been sent on 16 April. A copy of the order was also sent to the Delhi High Court and it was now up to that court to fix a date.

    The officials said that the attempt would be to first receive from the various high courts the papers relating to the petitions, which almost all had pleaded shortage of set top boxes for seeking extension or stay of DAS which became effective 1 January 2016.

    Earlier, the apex court had accepted the plea of the central government that ‘it would be justand proper for this court to withdraw all those cases pending in different high courtsand transfer the same to Delhi High Court.’

    In its order of 1 April, justices V Gopala Gowda and Arjun Mishra had said on the transfer petition filed by the central government that ‘in future, if any case on the same legalquestion is filed before the high court(s), such case(s) shall also be transferred to theDelhi High Court’.

    The Supreme Court registry was directed to communicate the order tothe registrar general(s) of the respective high courts for transmitting the records of thecases pending before the respective high courts to Delhi High Court.

    The order took on record the fact that the All Sikkim Cable Operators Association
    had withdrawn from the High Court of Sikkim. The court also noted that one petitioner, JBM Cable Network, had refused to accept notice but this service would be considered sufficient. Ironically, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had on 12 January written to its counsel in Punjab and Haryana High Court that it had understood the Hyderabad order to mean a pan India stay while asking him to defend the case.

    Buit later, the ministry sources admitted to indiantelevision.com that there was a misreading of the Bombay High Court directive. The Court had merely refereed to the Kusum Ingots & Alloys Ltd vs the Union of India 2004 case to say that if one high court gives a stay, another high court can act in similar fashion if the facts are similar – in this case, shortage of STBs. Thus, they agree that the high court stay was only confined to Maharashtra and not pan-India.

    Earlier, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation had withdrawn its petition after the Supreme Court said that the order of the Bombay High Court did not imply any pan-India stay.

    Meanwhile, cases are pending in the high courts of Bombay, Hyderabad (with separate petitions for Telengana and Andhra Pradesh), Allahabad, Assam, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh for the entire states, apart from Tamil Nadu where prolonged legal cases have been pending since Phase I.
    In Karnataka, three individual stakeholders have got stay orders in Mangalore and Mysore areas while there is no state-wide stay.

    The Bombay High Court had referred in its order to the argument by counsel that the Supreme Court in the Kusum Ingot case had said that if similar circumstances persist in other states, then they can pass an order similar to one passed by an earlier court.

  • DAS Phase III implementation extended by 2 months in AP, Telangana; Indore petition dismissed

    DAS Phase III implementation extended by 2 months in AP, Telangana; Indore petition dismissed

    NEW DELHI: Multi system operators (MSOs) in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh got a reprieve of eight weeks from implementing the Digital Addressable System (DAS) in Phase III towns and cities following stay orders issued by the Hyderabad High Court.

    While the Federation of Telangana MSOs got the relief yesterday (30 December), the MSO Welfare Association of Andhra Pradesh received the orders today (31 December).

    Issuing notice to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, the judge also turned down an oral plea by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for being impleaded in the case. He said the regulator was free to file an application in this regard.

    Initially, Justice Vilas V Afzalpurkar recalled an order granted by a bench of which he was a part on 20 August, 2013 with regard to DAS Phase II and noted that all the issues being raised by counsel C Ramachandra Raju – who represented both parties – had been raised at that time and should have been dealt with by now.

    However, counsel Raju said statutory powers always come with corresponding responsibilities. He said the government was meant to give facilities to help people and not create more problems by enforcing a deadline without ensuring adequate seeding of set top boxes (STBs). Furthermore, he said the 2013 case was filed as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by an outside party whereas these petitions have been filed by the major stakeholders – the MSOs. In any case, Raju pointed out that no point of law had been decided in the 2013 case and so that case could not be taken as a precedent.

    He said that even the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh had written to the Centre to say that it was not possible to meet the deadline as STBs were inadequate.

    The judge also heard Assistant Solicitor General B Narayana Reddy on behalf of the government before directing it to file a counter affidavit within eight weeks.

    The Central Government had issued its directive about Phase III on 11 September, 2014.

    MSO Kishna Mohan, who is adviser to the Federation of Telangana MSOs, told Indiantelevision.com that under Phase III, 168 towns with 2.6 million collections were to be covered in Telangana and 178 towns with 3.5 million collections in Andhra Pradesh.

    The 13th Task Force meeting held yesterday was apprised of these cases and of the case in Indore was to be heard today, but assured all stakeholders that the Government will follow the directives of the Courts but will not extend the date beyond today unless directed by any Court to do so.

    Meanwhile, it is learnt that a similar petition by Indore-based MSO Om Systems in the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking a stay on digitisation in Phase III areas of Madhya Pradesh has been dismissed.

    Earlier, the Bombay High Court had declined to stay the deadline but said that interim stop gap agreements could be signed while asking the TRAI to come out with a model interconnect agreement at the earliest.

  • Calcutta HC extends Digicable Comm’s interim stay by eight weeks

    Calcutta HC extends Digicable Comm’s interim stay by eight weeks

    KOLKATA: Granting relief to Digicable Comm, the Calcutta High Court has extended the interim stay by eight weeks.

    “Today, our matter was listed in Court No. 8 of the High Court under Justice Nadira Patheria with regards to Digicable Comm’s DAS licence for Kolkata and Howrah. The Court has allowed further extension of interim stay by eight weeks,” said Digicable Comm Services VP-operations & technology Lokesh Agarwal.

    Earlier also, the Calcutta High Court had put a stay order on the cancellation of the registration of the Kolkata-based multi-system operator (MSO) till 28 November, saying “Digicable Comm which has been in business for quite some time would suffer irreparable loss and injury, unless appropriate ad-interim protection is granted to them.”

    While the extension has been granted, the MSO is yet to get clarity on whether the extension, that is eight weeks, in this case, would be calculated from 28 November 2014 or 17 November 2014.
    If Digicable Comm is given eight weeks starting 17 November, then the interim extension will be till 17 January 2015.

    It should be noted that in July, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) had cancelled the registration of Digicable Comm Services.

    Digicable Comm, a joint venture between Digicable (51 per cent) and Kolkata-headquartered Multicar Group (49 per cent) was formed in the year 2009, to gain foothold in the West Bengal market.
    Digicable Comm is hopeful that after appealing to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and moving to the High Court, the decision would be in its favour. “We are happy to get the stay order extended from the High Court,” added Agarwal.

    It should be noted that MHA cancelled the company’s permanent registration on 18 July due to denial of security clearance.

    Digicable Com which once had more than four lakh connections in the KM Area is left with around 25,000 set top boxes (STBs). “We will follow the mandates. We are hopeful that the authorities would consider the minute details presented by us,” concluded Agarwal.
     

     

  • TRAI ad cap: Broadcasters move Delhi High Court

    TRAI ad cap: Broadcasters move Delhi High Court

    MUMBAI: The 12 minute ad cap case has had a change in venue – from the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to the Delhi High Court (HC). With the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that TDSAT does not have authority to hear cases challenging the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regulations, broadcasters had filed a writ petition in the HC last Friday.

    The case is set to be heard on 17 December in the Delhi HC by Justice Manmohan. The appellants include the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), 9X Media, B4U, TV Vision, Sun TV, E24 and Pioneer Channel. The hearing for the case is set to begin afresh but the priority of the lawyers representing the broadcasters will be to get a stay order from the HC to disallow the TRAI from taking any coercive action against channels which are reportedly not following the 12 minute ad cap. Under the TRAI mandate, it can persecute channels who do not toe the line that it has set.

    “We will ask for a stay order on TRAI taking any punitive actions against broadcasters. Since the TDSAT had given a stay order earlier and the bench was headed by a SC judge Justice Aftab Alam, we hope we get it from the HC too,” says a senior executive.

    The case will by and large remain the same with the focus on the fact that the ad cap is not a regulation at all. However, since it is now the HC, the crux of the arguments will be on constitutional grounds such as Article 14 and Article 19 that talks about the right to equality and freedom of speech respectively.

    The channels will now have to go through the long drawn process of the hearing proceeding in the HC and getting the stay order against the regulator taking them to the cleaners for violation of the ad cao reglation. They have been fortunate not to have got the stick so far from the TRAI which could have prosecuted them as it was within its rights to do so.

  • Sports ministry gets notice to ensure compliance of IOC directions by IOA

    Sports ministry gets notice to ensure compliance of IOC directions by IOA

    NEW DELHI: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court today issued notice to the Union Sports Ministry on a public interest litigation filed by IPS officer Amitabh Thakur and social activist Nutan Thakur to ensure compliance by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) of the directions issued by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

    After hearing arguments of petitioners’ counsel Asok Pande, the bench of Justice Imtiyaz Murtaza and Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya directed the Sports Ministry to present facts related with the matter within one week.

    According to the petition, IOC suspended IOA in December 2012 for not complying with the directions to suitably amend its constitution for introducing integrity, ethics and good governance in sports and reiterated it again during its meeting in Buenos Aires on 4 September directing IOA to amend its constitution by 31 October.

    Amitabh and Nutan said that participation in the Olympics is associated with not only sports but is also linked with the nation’s sentiments and has ramifications in international diplomacy and prestige, hence the sports ministry be directed to use its authority to ensure that IOA complies with the IOA directions in the prescribed period.

  • Allahabad HC reaffirms I&B ministry role in case of STB non-availability

    Allahabad HC reaffirms I&B ministry role in case of STB non-availability

    NEW DELHI: The Allahabad high court has clarified that that the information and broadcasting ministry has been mandated under the Cable TV Networks Rules 1994 to make interim arrangements if any subscriber complains he has not been able to get a set top box from his cable operator.

    A division bench of justice Uma Nath Singh and justice Satish Chandra while dealing with a case recently, quoted from an earlier judgment in this regard to say that the rules drawn up by the ministry were clear on this issue.

    (For the consumers, this judgment implies that they are free to approach the ministry in the event of the multi-system operator or the local cable operator not fulfilling the mandate of supplying the STB. The ministry has already set up a toll free number and complaints from consumers or LCOs relating to STBs or other aspects relating to digitisation are already being passed on to the concerned MSO, I and B minister Manish Tewari told the Parliament yesterday.)

    The court dismissed as without merit a petition by the Uttar Pradesh Cable Operators Welfare Association through its president Anil Upadhyay.

    In its petition, the association had sought extension of time as it said that there was shortage of digital set top boxes even as it fully supported digital access systems. It was stated that in UP, the STBs are not available in sufficient quantity, as it is an imported item mainly from China. There is no workshop in the state for repair of the set top boxes.

    In his arguments, additional solicitor general of India K C Kaushik said that digitisation was almost complete in UP as 100 per cent work has already been done in the Districts – Ghaziabad, Meerut, Varanasi and Allahabad – and 82 to 86 per cent work had already been done in the cities of Kanpur, Lucknow and Agra up to 14 April.

    Interestingly, the court in its judgment said ‘the set top box is not compulsory but is an option for the consumer, who wants to avail the better signals or selected channels. Further for providing better (digital) signals, there are many service providers, other than the petitioners, like DTH.‘

    While dismissing the case for extension of time, the court referred to another judgment of the Court in a related case by the Lucknow Metro Cable Operators Association wherein that court had said ‘Rule 13 (5) of the Rules contains a provision that in the event of failure of the concerned operator to supply and install a Set Top Box, the respondent (information and broadcasting ministry) may, in order to protect the interest of subscribers, take interim measure to ensure supply of signals. Under Rule 14, the ministry has been empowered to resolve dispute of various kinds including arrangements for handling complaints and redressal of grievances of the subscribers. The authority may also look into the efficacy of such arrangements and issue necessary directions to the concerned parties for compliance.‘

    That order had also pointed out that it was clear that all consumers were not aware of digitisation. ‘It is natural that everybody may not be aware whether there has been proper public awareness campaign about DAS scheme or not, and whether supply and installation of set top box has been carried out as required by Rule 13 of the Rules‘, that order had said.

  • AP HC adjourns hearing in DAS extension case till 29 April

    AP HC adjourns hearing in DAS extension case till 29 April

    NEW DELHI: The Andhra Pradesh high court today adjourned the hearing of petitions seeking extension of digitisation deadline in Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam to 29 April. The interim order restraining MSOs from disconnecting analog signals continues in both the cities.

    The court also asked the authorities not to take any coercive steps against Multi System Operators (MSOs) for not implementing digital addressability system (DAS) in Greater Hyderabad city limits.

    The division bench headed by interim Chief Justice N.V. Ramana was hearing public interest litigation and five petitions including one filed by an MSO ICE TV through its CEO S V Krishna Mohan and another by the Greater Hyderabad Cable TV Operators Association.

    The petitioner Chalasani Narendra filed the PIL saying the Union of India was ‘scuttling the constitutional rights of the citizens by blocking out the TV Channels in the guise of implementation of Digital Addressability System (DAS) without making any efforts for easy availability of Set Top Boxes (STBs) in the market‘.

    He also alleged that the government is also trying to favour the big corporate establishments in the cable and DTH industry in the guise of DAS implementation.

    Hathway Cable and Datacom also got itself impleaded in the petition saying that there is no need to extend the time for the implementation of DAS in Hyderabad.

    The court was informed that the nodal officer who is Joint Collector in Hyderabad had written a note to the Information and Broadcasting ministry that only 30 to 40 per cent STBs had been seeded in the state and had sought an extension of three months.

    The note said: ‘As per the information submitted by the MSOs and cable operators approximately 3.4 million consumers are existing, out of which only 30 per cent to 40 per cent STBs are supplied leaving majority of them still waiting for supply of STBs.‘

    According to figures published by the Ministry on 3 April, Hyderabad has 881,512 TV households of which 546,892 STBs had to be installed. Vishakhapatnam has 542,692 TV households, and 466,466 STBs had still to be installed.

  • Gujarat HC dismisses petitions seeking DAS extension

    Gujarat HC dismisses petitions seeking DAS extension

    NEW DELHI: The Gujarat High Court today dismissed two petitions seeking postponement of Digital Addressable System (DAS) in the four cities in the state that were covered under Phase II of digitisation.

    Justice Rajesh Shukla quashed the petitions filed by Cable Operators Association of Gujarat (COAG) through its President Pramod Pandya and another body of local cable operators from Surat.

    This follows a similar order by the Karnataka High Court earlier in the day striking down Karnataka State Cable TV Operators Association‘s (KSCOA) petition.

    The court also vacated the stay ordered on 28 March in the cities of Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat, and Vadodara, thereby allowing the Information & Broadcasting ministry to implement analogue signal switch-off in the state.

    Earlier, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) had impleaded itself as a party in the case in Gujarat, primarily to argue that there should be no delay in DAS.

    In its petition, the COAG had said that there was shortage of set top boxes and no clarity on acquisition of these boxes.

  • Karnataka HC dismisses KSCOA petition, paves way for analogue cable switch-off

    Karnataka HC dismisses KSCOA petition, paves way for analogue cable switch-off

    BENGALURU: Analogue signals in Bengaluru and Mysore are set to be switched off as the Karnataka High Court today dismissed a petition filed by Karnataka State Cable TV Operators Association (KSCOA) seeking extension of deadline for implementing Digital Addressable System (DAS).

    The KSCOA petition was dismissed as the HC found no merits in the case. The cable operators association had contended that a large number of cable TV homes in Bengaluru and Mysore would go dark if DAS is implemented since there isn‘t enough supply of Set Top Boxes (STBs).

    Bengaluru and Mysore are part of 38 cities that were slated to go digital in Phase II of DAS. The deadline for switching off analogue signals was 1 April, however, an interim order passed by Karnataka HC saw the deadline getting dragged by a good two weeks.

  • DAS extension: Karnataka HC reserves order till 16 April

    DAS extension: Karnataka HC reserves order till 16 April

    BENGALURU/NEW DELHI: The Karnataka High Court is set to decide on 16 April whether the stay on Digital Addressable System (DAS) roll-out in Bengaluru and Mysore will continue after the hearing in the matter concluded today.

    The HC reserved its order after hearing arguments of Union of India represented through Information & Broadcasting (I&B) ministry and the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), which had impleaded itself in the case on Monday.

    Earlier, the HC had heard arguments from petitioners Karnataka State Cable TV Operators (KSCOA) and Mysore Cable TV Operators Association (MCOA) and Multi System Operators (MSOs), the respondents in the case.

    The interim order restraining MSOs from disconnecting analog signals continues in both the cities.

    The KSCOA and MCOA had filed petitions, which were later clubbed together, seeking relief in digitisation deadline due to shortage of Set Top Boxes (STBs) and lack of clarity on STB ownership.

    The MSOs and IBF have sought the dismissal of petition on the ground that a large number of homes have already been seeded and there is no need for an extension to seed STBs in the remaining homes.

    Hearing in Gujarat adjourned till 16 April

    Meanwhile, the hearing of digitisation extension case in the Gujarat High Court could not take place as the court was pre-occupied with other matters. The HC has adjourned the case till 16 April which means that the stay in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara will continue.

    The Cable Operators Association of Gujarat (COAG) had filed a petition seeking postponement of digitisation due to shortage of STBs. The COAG through its president Pramod Pandya has filed a rejoinder to an affidavit filed by I&B ministry.

    Pandya said STBs ordered from China has failed to arrive because of internal problems in that country and therefore the local cable operators (LCOs) should be given more time to seed STBs in all the homes.

    The Government has already switched off analogue signals in the remaining 30 cities that were covered under phase II of digitisation beginning 1 April.

    Along with Karnataka and Gujarat, digitisation has also been stayed in two cities of Andhra Pradesh – Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam – where the hearing is expected to commence next week.

    Also read:

    Stay continues in Karnataka and Gujarat as courts adjourn hearing to 10 April

    IBF joins MSOs to oppose DAS extension in Bengaluru and Mysore

    Stay continues in Bengaluru and Mysore as HC pushes hearing to 8 April

    DAS Phase II: Karnataka HC extends hearing to 5 April, stay to continue in Bengaluru