The Hindu : DD, cable operators can relay telecast of Karachi ODI

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 13, 2004

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DD, cable operators can relay telecast of Karachi ODI

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI, MARCH 12. The Dubai-based television channel, Ten Sports, today gave an undertaking in the Supreme Court to provide live telecast signals and facilities to Doordarshan and all cable TV operators across the country for the one-day international cricket match between India and Pakistan to be played at Karachi tomorrow.

The assurance was given late in the evening before a three-member Bench, comprising the Chief Justice V. N. Khare, Justice Santosh N. Hedge and Justice S.H. Kapadia, during an urgent hearing of a special leave petition held at the residence of the Chief Justice. The Bench recorded the undertaking given by senior counsel Kapil Sibal appearing for Ten Sports (which had challenged the interim orders of the Madras High Court) to provide the telecast facilities to Doordarshan for tomorrow's match only and directed listing of the matter for further hearing on Monday. The second one-day match is slated for Tuesday.

In its undertaking, the channel said that it "will provide free of cost live telecast feed to Prasar Bharati and the cable operators for the Karachi ODI only." The Bench incorporated the undertaking in its interim order and said that this would substitute the orders passed by the Madras and Bombay High Courts and no other High Court should entertain any petition in this regard and pass any interim order.

Appearing for Prasar Bharati, the Attorney-General, Soli J. Sorabjee, and the Solicitor-General, Kirit N. Raval, submitted that denial of live telecast feed to Doordarshan would deprive crores of cricket enthusiasts in the country the benefit of watching the historic cricket tie.

Earlier in the day, the Madras High Court directed Ten Sports to "give the feed as it is with the logo and it is to be re-transmitted on DD-1 terrestrial."

On its part, the Bombay High Court asked Ten Sports to make available its signals to Doordarshan for the telecast of all the three cricket Test matches and five One-Day Internationals between India and Pakistan.

The Delhi High Court restrained all "unauthorised" cable operators from telecasting the cricket series without permission of Taj Television India Ltd, the exclusive distributor to `Ten Sports' channel in the country. Aggrieved by the Madras High Court order, Ten Sports swiftly, through its counsel, P.H. Parekh, moved the Supreme Court seeking the stay of the order and requested immediate hearing of the matter in view of the urgency. Accordingly, the hearing was held at the Chief Justice's residence at 8 p.m.

It was contended in the SLP that Ten Sports had already spent enormous money to acquire the exclusive rights from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) through a transparent global tender process in which Prasar Bharati chose not to participate. Ten Sports had a continuing liability to pay the PCB the contracted amount of $35 million (Rs. 300 crores) irrespective of dilution of its rights in India by forced "simulcast" and it would be constrained to breach its payment obligation under the PCB contract, the petition said.

The SLP said compulsory "simulcast" of the petitioner's signal would tantamount to confiscation totally opposed to WTO covenants and get India back to the Super 301-like watch lists. The SLP said that just for Rs. 17, an entire household could enjoy the India-Pakistan series from March 11 to April 17. It contended that the compulsory acquisition of the petitioner's signal and the broadcast reproduction rights and copyrights subsisting therein would contravene the international investment production agreement.

The SLP said the High Court ought to have appreciated that the petitioner would be telecasting the matches live through pay channels and the petitioners before the High Court could not compel Ten Sports, which had purchased the rights for valuable consideration, to telecast the same through free channel by rendering the contract, entered by Ten Sports with the Pakistan Cricket Control Board, nugatory.

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