(July 20, 2001) 2001 (TLS)125219

2001-DLT-92-842 :: 2001-AD (Del)-5-708

BUDDHA FILMS PRIVATE LIMITED Vs. Prasar Bharti

J. D. Kapoor

( 1 ) THROUGH this petition under Section 9 of the Arbitration and conciliation Act, 1996 read with Order 39 Rules 1 and 2,civil Procedure Code, the petitioner has sought interim injunction by way of restraining the respondent from super- imposing any Logo, commercial and branded graphics which is not supplied by the petitioner on the telecast of the cricketing match during the term of the contract and to telecast only such Logo, commercial and branded graphics which are supplied or provided by the petitioner.

( 2 ) THE short controversy involved for determination is whether the website address www. dd. now. com. displayed during the domestic telecast of the cricketing events which admittedly is in the form of super-imposition and passes through on the bottom of the screen every half an hour is merely a graphic without any commercial value or is a branded graphic with commercial value.

( 3 ) THE facts germane for the aforesaid contentious issue lie in moderate compass.

( 4 ) THE Board of Control for Cricket in India (hereinafter referred to as BCCI) possesses the exclusive rights of cricketing events. With the growing popularity of and viewership for cricketing events the Board entered into an agreement with the prasar Bharti a Broadcasting Corporation of India on 25. 9. 1999 whereby the respondent was vested with the rights to broadcast cricket matches over all modes of communication including television, radio and internet. In pursuance of this agreement, Prasar Bharti invited open tenders from various parties for marketing of air time during matches including one day internationals, test matches and in any other cricketing events under the aegis of BCCI, to be telecast on DD I and DD Sports channels.

( 5 ) BY virtue of Clauses 1. 1, 2. 1. Agreement the oetitioner, namely, M/s. Buddha Films Pvt. Ltd. (hereinafter referred as Buddha) has been given the exclusive domestic rights to sell or market the air time in the territory of India in respect of cricketing events and all commercials which are to be shown during the telecast of the matches are only those which are provided by the petitioner. However, the contentious clause is Clause 2. 1 of the agreement which is as follows: "prasar Bharti/doordarshan shall uplink from the venue of the match clean video/audio feed (without Logo, Commercials and Branded Graphics) alongwith audio signals on DD Satellites. The signal will be made available at new Delhi to the bidder. Uplinking from match venue to any other satellite instead of DD satellite could be considered, if found feasible by Prasar Bharti. In such a case, the booking of satellite transponder will have to be arranged by the production marketing agency at their cost". Other relevant clauses are as under : clause 1. 1. : "prasar Bharti has secured exclusive rights for, inter alia, production and marketing of all cricketing events to be organized by BCCI in India till 30th september, 2004. This will include all Pomestic and International Matches played in India conducted by the BCCI over the Term. The list and tentative schedule of both the Domestic and International matches played in India conducted by the BCCI over the Term as received from BCCI is annexed to part I as Annexure I. Any change in schedules/timings of the matches will not entitle the successful bidder for any claim or damages against Prasar Bharti". Clause 7: terms OF THE GRANT OF RIGHTS the grant and exercise of rights hereunder and the telecast of the commercials by Prasar Bharti shall be subject to the following terms and conditions : 7. 1 Admissible Commercial Time (CT) (a) CT of 6000 sees. per match day inside live event (End of Over, Fall of wicket, Drinks Break etc.) (b) CT of 300 sees. before the start and after the end of each Session for one day international format matches and before the start of day s pl