Star India Pvt. Ltd. v. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion
(2018) 74 PTC 417
In the High Court of Madras
W.P. 44126-44127/2016
Before Justice M.M. Sundresh
Decided on May 23, 2018

Relevancy of the Case: Legal validity of TRAI regulations on packaging and selling channel bouquets by broadcasters

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (Section 2, 11, 36)
• The Copyright Act, 1957 (Section 2, 37, 52)
• The Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) Regulations, 2017 (Clause 6, 7, 10)
• The Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services (Eighth) (Addressable Systems) Tariff Order, 2017 (Clause 3)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• These writ petitions challenge certain clauses of the 2017 Regulations and Tariff Order issued under the TRAI Act.
• The petitioners claim that these regulations impact content creation, generation, exploitation, licensing, and related terms and conditions.

Prominent Argumets by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel argued that the TRAI Act, 1997, only allows TRAI to regulate carriage and means of transmission. The Act does not give power to regulate content. Broadcasting of content can only be regulated by the Copyright Act, 1957. Hence, the 2017 Regulations and Tariff Order try to regulate an area that is out of the scope of the TRAI Act, 1997.
• The respondent’s counsel contended that the TRAI Act has sufficient power to pass the impugned changes. Powers under the Act are relatively wide and exhaustive.

Opinion of the Bench

• The TRAI Act, 1997, provides sufficient power to pass the impugned Regulations and Tariff Order. The Copyright Act, 1957 and the TRAI Act, 1997 do not clash.

Final Decision

• The court dismissed the writ petitions and upheld the validity of the 2017 Regulations and Tariff Order.

Parul Anand, an undergraduate student at the National Law University, Jodhpur, Rugved Mahamuni, an undergraduate student at the Vasantrao Pawar Law College, Baramati, and Satvik Mishra, an undergraduate student at the Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab, prepared this case summary during their internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2022.