Allow Doordarshan to share World Cup telecast, SC urged

The Supreme Court will hear Tuesday the central government and Prasar Bharti's plea challenging the Delhi High Court order by which public broadcaster Doordarshan was barred from sharing with cable operators the live feed provided to it by ESPN and Star which hold exclusive telecasting rights for the Cricket World Cup 2015.

A bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose will hear the plea Tuesday afternoon. The plea was directed to be listed for hearing Tuesday after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi mentioned the matter Monday morning before the bench headed by the Chief Justice H.L.Dattu.

The Delhi High Court last week had barred Doordarshan from sharing the live feed.

While the court had barred Doordarshan from sharing the World Cup live feed with cable operators, it had declined the plea to quash Prasar Bharti's 2000 notification making it mandatory for cable operators to carry DD National and DD News channels.

The order was passed on the plea of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, ESPN and Star who had contended that cable TV operators were getting live feeds through DD channels free of cost, resulting in loss of revenue for them.