July 5 deadline for govt to take a stand on CAS

NEW DELHI: Dismayed over the Centre’s perceived reluctance to implement the Conditional Access System, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the government to take a categorical stand on the issue before July 5.

“We will not give you any further time. You tell us whether you can implement it or not. Otherwise approach the Supreme Court,” a Division Bench of acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice S N Aggarwal firmly told the Additional Solicitor General P P Malhotra, who made the plea on behalf of the Union Government.

The Bench’s strong observation followed senior counsel Ram Jethmalani’s insistence that the Centre should pay a compensation of Rs 1,000 crore to the MSOs who have purchased the infrastructure necessary for implementing CAS. He alleged that the Centre was adopting an intransigent stance on the implementation for the past two years despite several assurances to the court on its intention to implement the same.

However, the Additional Solicitor General admitted that the Centre was still in the process of consultations on the matter and as such required at least 265 more days to implement the CAS in the metropolis if Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. The Bench directed the government to pay the Rs 1 lakh compensation to the cable operators body for the delay.