The Hindu : Telecast series with Ten Sports logo, says Madras High Court

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Saturday, Mar 13, 2004

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Telecast series with Ten Sports logo, says Madras High Court

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, MARCH 12. The Madras High Court today ruled that the India-Pakistan cricket series be telecast by Doordarshan using the Ten Sports logo and its advertisements.

Passing the orders on two public interest litigation petitions, the First Bench, comprising the Chief Justice B. Subhashan Reddy and Justice M. Thanikachalam, said: "The Ten Sports shall transmit the Indo-Pak cricket series, scheduled to start on March 13, 2002, through the Doordarshan by retaining the Ten Sports logo, and also availing itself of all other modes of transmission through satellites, and honouring the advertisement contracts in all modes of transmission, whether terrestrial or satellite."

The Judges, however, said the monetary part of the arrangement could be decided as and when the main petition was taken up for disposal.

"The liability to pay the amounts between the Prasar Bharati and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on the one side, and the Ten Sports, on the other, and the quantum thereof shall be worked out during the final hearing of the writ petitions."

The Judges said that neither the Government agencies nor the sports channel were guilty of inaction or wrong action. "But the airwave being a public property of 103-crore Indians, can those primary rights be curtailed by allowing Ten Sports to claim exclusivity even though it holds only secondary rights to cater to the needs of only a specialised class of viewers through satellite and by pay channels?

"If the matches are not played, there cannot be any fundamental right directing the playing of matches. Also, if Pakistan forbade the telecast of the match, the question of fundamental right does not arise at all.

But, when the matches are played and they are telecast live, and further when those rights have been sold for transmission or re-transmission, even though Ten Sports has acquired global rights, Prasar Bharati and the TRAI cannot be allowed to be silent spectators insofar as the terrestrial rights of live telecast of Indo-Pak cricket series is concerned."

Though the Bench concurred with Sriram Panchu, senior counsel for the petitioners — Krishnaswamy Associates and the Citizen, Consumer and Civic Action Group — that there was a prima facie case of fundamental rights of freedom and speech, it said: "That alone was not sufficient to grant the relief."

Stressing the need to strike a balance between the larger public interest by not harming the private and commercial interests of Ten Sports and its contractual parties, the Judges said the roots of Ten Sports "were strong in contractual field, which could not be completely uprooted by this public law forum [High Court]."

The Bench also condoned the laches of the part of the petitioners in approaching the court at the last moment saying, "the laches can be condoned for the reason that there had been apprehensions in the minds of people as to whether the matches will go on as scheduled."

The petitioners moved the court contending that Prasar Bharati was a statutory body created primarily to protect the interests of the public with regard to access to such major sporting events as the India-Pakistan cricket series.

The TRAI, on its part, is also duty-bound to ensure that Ten Sports, which has bought the rights from the Pakistan Cricket Board, provided requisite facilities at a reasonable cost and that the public had access to the event.

Court directive on telecast right

The Delhi High Court has directed cable operators across the country not to telecast cricket matches between India and Pakistan beginning on Saturday in Karachi without proper authorisation from the owners and distributors of Ten Sports channel in India.

The channel has got the exclusive rights for telecast of the Tests as well as one-day encounters between the countries.

The direction by Justice R.C. Chopra came on Friday on a petition by the channel and its distributors here, HMA Udyog Private Limited.

About the unregistered cable operators, Justice Chopra passed a prohibitory order with a direction that copies of the order would be served on them as soon as they were located.

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