MUMBAI: Even as consumer organisations mull over filing public interest litigation (PIL) against proper implementation of the conditional access system (CAS), here's one from a rather surprising source - a group of cable operators.

The group, which calls itself the South Mumbai Cable Operators' Welfare Association has lodged a petition which will come up for hearing tomorrow (29 May) in the Mumbai High Court.

The South Mumbai Cable Operators' Welfare Association, which claims to be a registered entity with the Central government's office of the charity commissioner (Mumbai), has filed the petition number 1417/03 urging the government to ensure that the CAS rollout is smooth. A vacation bench of the Mumbai High Court chaired by Justice JP Deodhar will hear the petition tomorrow and decide whether to admit it or not.

The association claims to have 300 members between Colaba (south Mumbai) and Mahim (central Mumbai). The petition has sought government intervention in order to streamline the proposed implementation of CAS. The association's secretary Polly Nagwaswalla has expressed concerns that the new technology would result in chaos and confuse the consumer.

Nagwaswalla is a cable operator who operates in Mumbai's Grant Road area. The petition mentions the registered office of the association as being located in Glass building on J Jehangir Road, opposite Bhatia hospital, Grant Road, Mumbai 400 007.

The petition also mentions that nearly 1 million households in Mumbai will be affected by the process of CAS implementation.

It might be recollected that a division bench of the Mumbai High Court comprising Chief Justice CL Thakker and Dr Dhananjay Chandrachud had postponed the crucial hearing of the "cable case" to 18 June 2003. An association of Mumbai-based cable operators have filed a petition with the vacation bench of the High Court.

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