Case: Union of India (UOI) and Ors Vs. Board of Control for Cricket in India and Ors

right and the degree of curtailment thereof by virtue of the provisions of Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 read with Section 8 of the Cable Act, 1995 to which aspect of the case we will now turn. 27. The Cable Act was enacted in the year 1995 to regulate the operation of cable television network which had come into India around that time. Cable television was a new experience for the Indian viewers who, overnight, had access to a large number of foreign channels carrying different kinds and forms of entertainment and information. While it is correct that some of the channels available on cable television network were Indianized in content, there was a apprehension, and perhaps justified, that the new trend and upsurge may make Doordarshan and its regional channels extinct resulting in dissemination of awareness on national issues. This is evident from the report of the Standing Committee to whom the Cable T.V. Network (Regulation) Bill 1993 was referred to. This is why Section 8 of the Cable Act, 1995 was enacted, namely, to obligate Cable TV operators to carry news and information concerning the developments of the country, Government Policies and other such related matters even to all such households who may have availed of cable services. In fact, transmission of Doordarshan channels by Cable Operators is always a complimentary part of any bouquet of services that a Cable Operator may make available to a consumer. 28. On the other hand, the Sports Act, 2007 which is a later enactment had altogether a different object for its enactment, namely, to provide access to the largest number of listeners and viewers, on a free to air basis, of sporting events of national importance through mandatory sharing of sports broadcasting signals with Prasar Bharati and for maters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 is a significant provision to further the objective behind the enactment of the Sports Act, 2007. Though much argument has been advanced as to whether Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 is expropriatory in nature, we have no hesitation in holding the said provision of the Act to be of such a nature inasmuch as it curtails or abridges the rights of a content rights owner or holder and television or radio broadcasting service provider, as may be. Sharing of revenue between the content rights owner or holder and the Prasar Bharati envisaged by Section 3(2) of the Sports Act, 2007 would hardly redeem the situation to take the Sports Act, 2007 out of the category of expropriatory legislation. Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007, therefore, has to be interpreted very strictly. Not only we do not find in the provisions of Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 any recognition of the requirement stipulated in Section 8 of the Cable Act, 1995, the plain language of the said provision i.e. Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 makes it clear that the obligation to share cast on the content rights owner or holder, etc. with Prasar Bharati is to enable the Prasar Bharati to transmit the same on its terrestrial and DTH networks. If the legislative intent was to allow Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 not to operate on its own language but to be controlled by Section 8 of the Cable Act, 1995, there would have been some manifestation of such intent either in Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 or in Section 8 of the Cable Act, 1995 (by an appropriate amendment thereto). In the absence of any such legislative intent it will only be correct to hold that Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 operates on its own without being controlled by any of the conditions or stipulations contained in Section 8 of the Cable Act, 1995. Any other view may have the effect of introducing a fragility in Section 8 of the Cable Act, a consequence that must surely be avoided. 29. Section 8 of the Cable Act imposes an obligation on the Cable Operators to carry/transmit such Doordarshan channels or the channels operated by or on behalf of Parliament, as may be, notified in the Official Gazette. The legislature has not specified any particular channel which must be mandatorily carried by Cable Operators. The task has been left to the Central Government. It will, therefore, be not wrong to understand the obligation cast on Cable Operators to transmit the DD1 (National) channel and the transmission of Live feed of major sports events of national importance on the said channel by the Doordarshan as a matter of mere coincidence instead of a legislative mandate. Hypothetically, it is always open to the Central Government to denotify DD1 (National) from the notified channels in the notification Under Section 8 of the Cable Act. Surely, the effect and operation of Section 3 of the Sports Act cannot be left to be decided on the basis of the discretion of the Central Government to include and subsequently exclude or not to include at all the DD1 (National) channel in a notification to be published Under Section 8 of the Cable Act, 1995. Insofar as DTH network of private operators is concerned, the same does not even come under the operation of a Cable Operator. 30. Needless to say our conclusions above do not, in any manner, impact or effect the rights of the Appellant Under Section 12(3)(c) of the Prasar Bharati Act which rights always remain available for exercise, if so desired. 31. On the basis of the above discussions, we, therefore, come to the conclusion that Under Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 the live feed received by Prasar Bharati from content rights owners or holders is only for the purpose of re-transmission of the said signals on its own terrestrial and DTH networks and not to Cable Operators so as to enable the Cable TV operators to reach such consumers who have already subscribed to a cable network.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 0

Explanation:
0[ds]It, therefore, appears that one of the main objectives behind the incorporation of Prasar Bharati is to provide an adequate coverage to sports and games for the purpose(s) already noticed.13. Specific notice would be required to be taken, in the light of the contentions advanced, which will be noticed later, of the provisions contained in Section 12(3)(c) of the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990 which enables the Prasar Bharati to negotiate for purchase of, or otherwise acquire, programmes and rights or privileges in respect of sports and other events, films, serials, occasions, meetings, functions or incidents of public interest for broadcasting and to establish procedures for the allocation of such programmes, rights or privileges to the services.Section 8 of the Cable Act, 1995 permits the Central Government to specify the names of Doordarshan channels or the channels operated by or on behalf of the Parliament which are required to be mandatorily carried by the Cable Operators. As already noticed, by notification dated 13th September, 2000, DD1 (National) channel and DD (News) channel and one regional channel have been notified as mandatorily required to be carried by the Cable Operators. There are certain subsequent notifications issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India Under Section 8(1) of the Cable Act, 1995, the subsisting one being dated 5th September, 2013. No specific notice of the aforesaid notification would be required to be taken as in substance and in law the position is no different.19. From the above, it can be noticed that Under Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007, no content rights owner or holder and no television or radio broadcasting service provider can carry a live television broadcast on any cable or DTH network or radio commentary broadcast in India, of sporting events of national importance unless it simultaneously shares the live broadcasting signal, without its advertisements, with the Prasar Bharati to enable them to re-transmit the same on its terrestrial networks and Direct-to-Home networks in such manner and on such terms and conditions as may be specified.20. On the other hand, Section 8(1) of the Cable Act, 1995 carries a legislative mandate that every cable television operator is required to carry, on its network, such Doordarshan channels or channels operated by or on behalf of the Parliament, as may be notified by the Central Government in the Official Gazette.While the sweep of Article 19(1)(a) is certainly expansive to include receipt of information also, it is in the context of above argument of Shri Sibal that we may now recapitulate the short contention put forward with great force by Dr. Rajeev Dhavan, learned Senior Counsel. The same is to the effect that in the present case it is not the contention of BCCI that the provisions of Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution have been violated. Insofar as the provisions of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution is concerned, Dr. Dhavan has contended that, at best, the present is a case where the slice of the cake becomes a little smaller; but that by no means would attract Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, it is argued. We agree with Dr. Dhavan.26. Proceeding further, we deem it necessary to clarify that for the present case it is not necessary and, therefore, we do not intend to go into the question raised by the parties with regard to the nature of the rights conferred by Section 37 of the Copyright Act, 1957 namely, whether the live telecast of a cricket match amounts to production of cinematograph film conferring on the author and its assignee the same inviolable rights that the provisions of the Copyright Act confer on a copyright holder. Rather, we are of the view that in the facts of the present case and to answer the issue arising therein it will suffice to acknowledge the existence of a right in the content rights owner/holder in the live feed of a cricket match or other sporting events of national importance.27. The Cable Act was enacted in the year 1995 to regulate the operation of cable television network which had come into India around that time. Cable television was a new experience for the Indian viewers who, overnight, had access to a large number of foreign channels carrying different kinds and forms of entertainment and information. While it is correct that some of the channels available on cable television network were Indianized in content, there was a apprehension, and perhaps justified, that the new trend and upsurge may make Doordarshan and its regional channels extinct resulting in dissemination of awareness on national issues. This is evident from the report of the Standing Committee to whom the Cable T.V. Network (Regulation) Bill 1993 was referred to. This is why Section 8 of the Cable Act, 1995 was enacted, namely, to obligate Cable TV operators to carry news and information concerning the developments of the country, Government Policies and other such related matters even to all such households who may have availed of cable services. In fact, transmission of Doordarshan channels by Cable Operators is always a complimentary part of any bouquet of services that a Cable Operator may make available to a consumer.28. On the other hand, the Sports Act, 2007 which is a later enactment had altogether a different object for its enactment, namely, to provide access to the largest number of listeners and viewers, on a free to air basis, of sporting events of national importance through mandatory sharing of sports broadcasting signals with Prasar Bharati and for maters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 is a significant provision to further the objective behind the enactment of the Sports Act, 2007. Though much argument has been advanced as to whether Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 is expropriatory in nature, we have no hesitation in holding the said provision of the Act to be of such a nature inasmuch as it curtails or abridges the rights of a content rights owner or holder and television or radio broadcasting service provider, as may be. Sharing of revenue between the content rights owner or holder and the Prasar Bharati envisaged by Section 3(2) of the Sports Act, 2007 would hardly redeem the situation to take the Sports Act, 2007 out of the category of expropriatory legislation. Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007, therefore, has to be interpreted very strictly. Not only we do not find in the provisions of Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 any recognition of the requirement stipulated in Section 8 of the Cable Act, 1995, the plain language of the said provision i.e. Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 makes it clear that the obligation to share cast on the content rights owner or holder, etc. with Prasar Bharati is to enable the Prasar Bharati to transmit the same on its terrestrial and DTH networks. If the legislative intent was to allow Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 not to operate on its own language but to be controlled by Section 8 of the Cable Act, 1995, there would have been some manifestation of such intent either in Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 or in Section 8 of the Cable Act, 1995 (by an appropriate amendment thereto). In the absence of any such legislative intent it will only be correct to hold that Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 operates on its own without being controlled by any of the conditions or stipulations contained in Section 8 of the Cable Act, 1995. Any other view may have the effect of introducing a fragility in Section 8 of the Cable Act, a consequence that must surely be avoided.29. Section 8 of the Cable Act imposes an obligation on the Cable Operators to carry/transmit such Doordarshan channels or the channels operated by or on behalf of Parliament, as may be, notified in the Official Gazette. The legislature has not specified any particular channel which must be mandatorily carried by Cable Operators. The task has been left to the Central Government. It will, therefore, be not wrong to understand the obligation cast on Cable Operators to transmit the DD1 (National) channel and the transmission of Live feed of major sports events of national importance on the said channel by the Doordarshan as a matter of mere coincidence instead of a legislative mandate. Hypothetically, it is always open to the Central Government to denotify DD1 (National) from the notified channels in the notification Under Section 8 of the Cable Act. Surely, the effect and operation of Section 3 of the Sports Act cannot be left to be decided on the basis of the discretion of the Central Government to include and subsequently exclude or not to include at all the DD1 (National) channel in a notification to be published Under Section 8 of the Cable Act, 1995. Insofar as DTH network of private operators is concerned, the same does not even come under the operation of a Cable Operator.30. Needless to say our conclusions above do not, in any manner, impact or effect the rights of the Appellant Under Section 12(3)(c) of the Prasar Bharati Act which rights always remain available for exercise, if so desired.31. On the basis of the above discussions, we, therefore, come to the conclusion that Under Section 3 of the Sports Act, 2007 the live feed received by Prasar Bharati from content rights owners or holders is only for the purpose of re-transmission of the said signals on its own terrestrial and DTH networks and not to Cable Operators so as to enable the Cable TV operators to reach such consumers who have already subscribed to a cable network.