Kapadia, J. - (1.) Being aggrieved by the direction issued by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal on 24.8.2005 ordering Star India Pvt. Ltd. "appellant herein" to supply signals of its bouquet of channels by entering into an Agreement with Sea T.V. Network Ltd. (respondent No.1 herein) on such terms and conditions which are not unreasonable, Star India Pvt. Ltd. has come to this Court by way of this civil appeal.
(2.) Star India Pvt. Ltd. is a company under the Companies Act, 1956. On 8.2.2005 Star India Pvt. Ltd. entered into Distributor Agreement with Moon Network Pvt. Ltd. (respondent No.2). M/s Moon Network Pvt. Ltd. under the Agreement was a distributor. Under the said Agreement there was a recital. Under that recital Star India Pvt. Ltd. had stated that it was an authorized distributor of the Satellite T.V. channels namely Star Plus, Star Movies, Star World, Star News, Star Gold etc. collectively referred to as New Channels Bouquet. Under the Agreement Moon Network Pvt. Ltd. a Multi-System Operator (for short MSO) was engaged in the business of transmission of TV channels through cables. Under the Agreement Moon Network Pvt. Ltd. was described as a distributor. Under the said Agreement Star India Pvt. Ltd. appointed Moon Network Pvt. Ltd. as the distributor on a sole and exclusive basis. The distributor was required to distribute the subscribed channels in the territory of Agra. Moon Network Pvt. Ltd. was thus appointed as the sole and exclusive distributor of the subscribed channels through the cable network owned by it and operated by it in the territory of Agra. It is interesting to note that under the Agreement, Star India Pvt. Ltd. excluded the distribution of the subscribed channels through DTH, CAS, Broadband or any medium other than through a ground cable network. The said Agreement came into effect from January 1, 2005. The Agreement is valid up to June 30, 2007, unless terminated in accordance therewith. Under the Agreement Moon Network Pvt. Ltd. could execute an affiliation agreement directly with its affiliate(s) in such form and manner to be approved by Star India Pvt. Ltd. Under the Agreement Moon Network Pvt. Ltd. could use publicity material given to it by Star India Pvt. Ltd. Under the Agreement Moon Network Pvt. Ltd. agreed to employ competent staff and/or independent contractors for the purpose of the contract. Under the Agreement Moon Network Pvt. Ltd. was recognized by Star India Pvt. Ltd. as a MSO engaged in the business of transmission of T.V. channels through ground cables. Under clause 6.3 of that Agreement it was clarified that Star India Pvt. Ltd. made no representations and/or warranties relating to continuity, content and the reception quality of the programmes on the subscribed channels and that Star India Pvt. Ltd. will not be responsible if a Delivery Failure is caused by factors not directly within the control of Star India Pvt. Ltd. Under the Agreement Star India Pvt. Ltd. agreed to deliver the Decoders to the distributor Moon Network Pvt. Ltd. However, under the Agreement it was stipulated that Moon Network Pvt. Ltd. in turn would not re-sell or act as a dealer in respect of the said Decoders. Under clause 16 of the Agreement the parties agreed that Moon Network Pvt. Ltd. as a distributor will act as an independent contractor and that the Agreement shall not create principal-agent relationship between Star India Pvt. Ltd. and Moon Network Pvt. Ltd. That, neither party shall hold out to the rest of the world any such relationship.
(3.) To sum up, Moon Network Pvt. Ltd. was appointed as an exclusive agent of Star India Pvt. Ltd. in the territory of Agra. At the same time the Agreement recognized the status of Moon Network Pvt. Ltd. as an MSO engaged in the business of transmission of TV channels through ground cables. This aspect is important since in the present controversy one of the main issue which arises for determination is the difference between, transmission including re-transmission of signals, on one hand and the expression providing TV channels on the other hand which expression finds place under the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Interconnection Regulations, 2004 (hereinafter referred to as ;Interconnection Regulation).;