- (1.) THE petitioner by way of this Petition, has questioned the legality and/or validity of a notice issued by Respondent herein purported to be under Regulation 4.1 of the Telecom (Broadcasting & Cable Services) Interconnection Regulations, 2004 as amended from time to time (The Regulations), whereby and whereunder respondent on the ground of default on the part of petitioner for a sum of Rs.7,90,503.48 as also a public notice dated 28.4.2010, has approached this Tribunal claiming, inter -alia, the following reliefs : - (i) Direct the respondent to restore and continue the supply the signals of KTV, Sun TV and Sun News to the network of the petitioner as per law without any interruption. (ii) Direct the respondent to enter into a fresh subscription agreement with the petitioner as this Hon. Tribunal may deem fit and proper in circumstances of this case. (iii) Direct the respondent to give the disconnection credit for the period from 19.5.2010 to the date of restoration of signals in which the petitioner suffered the illegal disconnection. (iv) Direct the respondent to send regular monthly invoice after the restoration of the signals as per the regulation on the basis of fresh subscription fee as to be determined or has to be adjudicated, or as directed by this Hon. Tribunal.
(2.) THE petitioner is a Local Cable Operator operating in the town of Tirnelveli in the State of Tamilnadu. Admittedly, an agreement was entered into by and between the parties hereto on or about 01.4.2009 which, according to petitioner, had been signed by it on a blank format of agreement. The said agreement expired on 31.3.2010. This Petition was filed on 31.5.2010.
(3.) INDISPUTABLY purported to be in terms of the aforementioned notice dated 26.4.2010 and the public notice dated 28.4.2010, the supply of signal to petitioners network was discontinued on and from 19.5.2010. The matter relating to grant of a interim relief in favour of petitioner came up for consideration before this Tribunal on 02.7.2010. Pursuant to and, in furtherance of the said order, supply of the signals to the network of petitioner was restored. The question with regard to the conduct of a joint survey, as was observed by this Tribunal in its order dated 02.7.2010, came up for consideration on 23.7.2010. On the basis of an affidavit filed on behalf of petitioner contending that during the joint survey some unwanted persons; names of some of whom have been mentioned in the para 3 thereof, had come to represent respondent, whereupon this Tribunal passed the following order : - Without going into the correctness or otherwise of the allegations made in the said affidavit, we are of the opinion that for the purpose of smooth conduct of the joint survey it will be appropriate if an Advocate -Commissioner is appointed therefor. We would request the learned District Judge of Tirunelveli to appoint an Advocate Commissioner to conduct the joint survey. The learned counsel for the petitioner shall hand over to the learned Commissioner a complete set of papers for passing of an order for his functions as a Commissioner. The parties may for the said purpose appear before the learned District Judge on 30.7.2010. The Registry is directed to send a copy of this order by FAX to the learned District Judge by 26.7.2010. Copy of this order may also be handed over to the learned counsel for the parties. The fees and other costs of the learned Commissioner shall be borne by both the parties in equal share for the purpose of ascertaining the number of subscriber base of the petitioner by visiting the concerned areas where the petitioner operates. In modification of our order dated 2nd July, 2010 we direct that as the dispute between the parties pertaining to the amount of subscription charges is whether the petitioner is liable to pay a sum of Rs.85,758/ - or Rs.64,628/ - and furthermore as it appears that the petitioner had all along been paying a sum of Rs.84,180/ - per month for the subscription charges, we are of the opinion that the petitioner, without prejudice to its rights and contentions and subject to any other or further order that may be passed by this Tribunal upon receipt of the report of the learned Commissioner, may pay a sum of Rs.85,758/ - towards the subscription charges beginning from the date of re -connection. The learned Local Commissioner has filed a report. In the said report, the subscriber base of petitioner was found to be 2456. We may notice the subscriber base of petitioner village -wise as was stated in the said report : - ;