HC to Govt: Take stand on CAS by July 5

New Delhi: In a major setback to the Central Government, the Delhi High Court has rejected its appeal on the Conditional Access System (CAS).

In its directive in April, the High Court had asked the Government to roll out CAS in four weeks.

This directive was challenged by the Centre, which had asked the court to give it some more time.

However, on Wednesday, the court rejected the appeal and fined the Government Rs one lakh for its delay in implementing it.

The court has now given the Centre till July 5 to take a categorical stand on how soon can it implement CAS.

"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 Multi-System Operators (MSOs) who have purchased the infrastructure necessary for implementing CAS.

Jethmalani 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 ASJ submitted 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 while declining the Centre's plea asked it to clarify the position before the next date of hearing.

A single judge had earlier this year impose a penalty of Rs one lakh onthe I & B Ministry for failing to implement the CAS for the last two years.

(With inputs from PTI)