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The Centre's digitisation drive today received a major boost with the Karnataka and Gujarat High courts today ruling out any extension of deadline in six cities of both the states where the programme has to be implemented in its second phase.
Sources in Information and Broadcasting ministry said while the deadline for phase-II of digitisation had passed on the midnight of March 31, Mysore, Bangalore and four cities in Gujarat Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot and Baroda had been given extensions by the High courts of the states after petitions had been filed.
A writ petition was filed before the High Court of Karnataka in Bangalore by an association of cable operators praying for extension of deadline beyond 31st March, 2013 for implementation of Digital Addressable System or Digitisation as it is commonly known in the cities of Bangalore and Mysore under Phase II of digitisation, source said.
Officials said that in Gujarat an application was filed before High Court of Gujarat by an association of cable operators seeking extension of digitisation phase II deadline in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot and Surat.
They said the case came up for hearing on March 28 and the Court granted interim stay for implementation of Digitisation till April 8.
