[Here is the famous Supreme Court of India's judgement that led to establishing Prasar Bharti Corporation for the autonomous functioning of All India Radio and Doordarshan. Later, the Community Radio movement followed - all in the spirit of 'airwaves as public property'. What is the effect of this judgement - has it succeeded in what it was supposed to do? While the landmark judgement has done much good, more is to be expected, more is to be materialised.-RR.]
The airwaves as a public good: Review of a landmark judgment
Compiled by Siddharth Narrain
The judgment in The Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting v Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) articulated the important principle that the broadcasting media should be under the control of the public as distinct from government
Introduction
The background facts that led to the landmark 1995 judgment of the Supreme Court of India on the airwaves relate to a dispute between the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) over whether or not the cricket organisation had the right to grant exclusive telecast rights to a private agency rather than to Doordarshan. In responding to the dispute over the facts of the case, courts at various levels had to examine the larger issue of whether or not the government or government-related agencies like Doordarshan could enjoy a monopoly over the creation of terrestrial signals and sole discretion over telecasting or not telecasting them. …. [for the entire article, please visit www.richardrego.wordpress.com]
(Siddharth Narrain works with the Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore)
InfoChange News & Features, June 2009
