The Hindu : National : Proceedings on telecast issue stayed

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Friday, Jul 29, 2005

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National

Proceedings on telecast issue stayed

Siddharth Narrain

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the proceedings of the Kerala High Court in a writ petition filed by two cricket enthusiasts seeking a direction to Ten Sports and Prasar Bharti to ensure the telecast of the one-day triangular cricket series scheduled to begin on July 30 in Colombo by Doordarshan's free-to-air channels.

The two-judge Bench, comprising Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice S.B. Sinha, said that the stay would not come in way of Ten Sports and Prasar Bharti entering into an agreement for the telecast of the series.

Harish Salve and P.H. Parekh, appearing for Ten Sports, said that public interest litigations were being filed in various High Courts before the commencement of a cricket series in which India is participating to obtain telecast rights through an order of the court.

They argued that Ten Sports was being forced to share its exclusive rights for the telecast of the cricket series, acquired at a huge cost, in the garb of public interest.

Ten Sports has filed an application requesting that the writ petition before the Kerala High Court be transferred to the Supreme Court as it involved the same questions of law raised in two petitions filed in the Madras High Court just before the India-Pakistan cricket series played March 2004, which are awaiting final disposal before the Supreme Court. The court issued notice to the petitioners in the Kerala High Court matter and fixed the next date of hearing on August 8.

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