Will govt backtrack on CAS? Operators anxious

Even as the Centre today assured the Delhi High Court that it was keen to implement the conditional access system (CAS) in the three metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, multi-system operators submitted that the government was likely to delete Section 4 of the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, that dealt with the introduction of CAS.

According to counsel Ram Jethmalani, appearing for multi-system operators, the government was planning to introduce a Bill in the monsoon session of Parliament that would repeal the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act of 1995, thereby deleting Section 4.

However, the proposed Bill would have a saving clause to protect CAS wherever it had been already implemented, for example, in Chennai.

A division Bench headed by acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain asked the government to file an affidavit stating the steps being taken with regard to the implementation of CAS, within two weeks, and posted the matter for hearing to July 19.

Clause 3 of the Bill prescribing licensing for all broadcasting services would also include local cable operators and MSOs.

The Centre will designate a licensing authority and prescribe policy guidelines for the introduction of a digital addressable system in broadcasting services throughout the country in a phased manner, according to the proposed Bill.

"In view of the fast-changing technological scenario, it is considered better to have an enabling clause in the Bill rather than spell out the system itself, as was done earlier, and then lack the flexibility to make suitable changes or amendments," it stated.