Gujarat HC rejects plea on extension of deadline to instal set-top boxes.
There will be no respite for television viewers - in four major cities of Gujarat -who are yet to instal a set-top box. Justice RH Shukla of the Gujarat high court (HC), on Tuesday, rejected two petitions seeking extension of deadline to convert analogue connections to digital ones. The court ruled that non-availability of set-top boxes and non-completion of technical work were not valid grounds to entertain the petition. As a result, about one lakh households in Ahmedabad face a blackout from Wednesday.
According to a source from a leading cable operator company, around 1.66 lakh connections were left to be converted from analogue to digital connections in the city. “It is estimated that only 40% are covered and one lakh connections may see blackout on Wednesday,” said the source. Meanwhile, officials of GTPL refused to comment, while officials from IndusInd Media & Communications were not available to speak on the issue.
The judge clarified that the cable operators had the liberty to approach the Union information and broadcasting ministry. The operators, however, plan to file an appeal before a two-judge bench of the HC.
“The court has not granted our plea to suspend its order till we file appeal before the two-judge bench,” said Pratik Jasani, counsel for one of the petitioners. “We will file an appeal once we receive the copy of the court order,” he added. Analogue TV sets now face blackout and the decision is up to the Union ministry. According to the government affidavit filed before the HC earlier, 39% work had been completed at Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Surat while 70% work had been completed at Vadodara.
Two petitions were filed before the HC, one by Saurashtra-Kutch Cable Operators’ Association and another by Cable Operators’ Association of Gujarat.
The HC heard arguments from cable operators that there was no stock of set-top boxes and they were yet to complete technical requirements. They said that if the deadline for March 31 was implemented, the consumers would face TV blackout for no fault of theirs.
The government had issued a notification to digitalise TV sets by installing set-top boxes in four phases. In the first phase, four metro cities were included; 38 cities, including four in Gujarat, were included in the second phase.
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