Star India Pvt. Ltd. v. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion
(2019) 2 SCC 104
In the Supreme Court of India
Civil Appeal 7326-7329/2018
Before Justice R.F. Nariman and Justice Navin Sinha
Decided on October 30, 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 civil appeals challenge certain clauses of the 2017 Regulations and Tariff Order issued under the TRAI Act.
• The appellants had filed a writ petition before the Madras High Court. They contended that these regulations are outside the power of TRAI and the TRAI Act.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The appellant’s counsel contended that TRAI’s jurisdiction is limited to the delivery and transmission aspects. The 2017 Regulations deal with the content of TV channels, which is governed by the Copyright Act, 1957. These regulations directly impact the pricing and marketing of broadcasting channels.
• The respondent’s counsel submitted that the Act aims to protect the interests of the broadcasters as well as consumers. Section 11(1)(b) provides effective interconnection between different service providers.

Opinion of the Bench

• The above clauses do not result in the regulation of the broadcast content. The TRAI Act, 1997 did not infringe on rights under the Copyright Act, 1957.
• Restriction of such rights is justifiable in the public interest as there are provisions for paying compensation to the broadcasters. TRAI can regulate both the terms of carriage simpliciter and the terms of interconnection between the broadcaster, distributor, operator, or consumers to ensure fair treatment of all parties.
• The 2017 Tariff Order does not impact the broadcaster’s potential to choose the channels for including them in a bouquet.

Final Decision

• The bench dismissed the appeal and upheld the validity of the 2017 Regulations and Tariff Order.

Anjali Agrawal, an undergraduate student at the NALSAR University of Law, Linet Christina Thomas, an undergraduate student at Lords Universal College of Law, and Ojasvi Gupta, an undergraduate student at the Faculty of Law, Banaras Hindu University, prepared this case summary during their internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2022.