(9 April 2007 5:10 pm)

MUMBAI: Sun TV, which is facing strictures from the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal for non-supply of its channels to DTH platform TataSky, has won a stay order from the Madras High Court in the case.

According to Sun TV legal head Anil Kumar, Justice Mohan Ram of the Madras High Court last Thursday (5 April) stayed the order of the sector tribunal asking Sun TV to stream its signals on an a la carte basis to TataSky, at 50 per cent of the cable charges. "A copy of the (court) order is expected this evening," Kumar stated.

"TDSAT is wrong in passing an order like that, because the tribunal itself has earlier stated that an interrim direction cannot be given in a case like this till the entirel final hearing is over," Kumar pointed out.

The judgment delivered by the Madras High Court supports our argument that TDSAT's interrim order is bad in law, Kumar asserted.

Kumar also accused TataSky of twisting the facts in regards to the dispute between South India's lead broadcast network and the DTH service provider.

"We plan to initiate appropriate legal action against Tata Sky for suppressing facts and misinterpretation before the media", he asserted.

Kumar was referring to comments made earlier to Indiantelevision.com by TataSky senior counsel Ramji Srinivasan that Sun had withdrawn its review petition on the matter, which in effectively meant it did not dispute TDSAT's order.

"Sun had on the last day of hearing even withdrawn its review petition, which means it does not dispute the order, and even then, they have not complied with it, so we are going to press for this penalty (that Sun TV be disallowed from being aired in any cable or DTH platform," Srinivasan had told indiantelevision.com last Saturday.

Kumar explained Sun TV had withdrawn its review petition only because it had been advised that an application for modification is more applicable in the case under dispute than a review petition. "My modification application of the TDSAT order is pending," Kumar said.

"On 2 April TDSAT has admitted the modification application so how can the tribunal demand that I give my channels. The directive is bad in law," Kumar reiterated.

On 19 March, TDSAT had passed an interim order asking Sun TV to stream its signals on an a la carte basis to TataSky, at 50 per cent of the cable charges.

The order meant that Sun was obliged to give TataSky the channels that the DTH operator wanted, and the price Sun would have to offer it was at 50 per cent of the price for the same channels that it received from the MSOs in the cable TV field.

On the last day of hearing of the review petition filed by Sun on the interim order, the latter had raised several issues, especially demanding that TataSky should pay Sun for its entire subscription base, and other questions.

The court had been upset and accused Sun of "taking us round and round" without complying with the order, and had strictly said that the order must be complied with by 7 April.

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