The main legal point established in the judgment is the interpretation of the legal obligation of content rights owners to share live broadcast signals with Prasar Bharti, and the use of airwaves and spectrum in broadcasting services.

Pradeep Nandrajog, J.

1. Petitioner, ESPN Software India Pvt. Ltd. claims to be the sole and the exclusive distributor of some sports channels in India which inter-alia include ESPN, STAR Sports, Star Sports 2 and STAR Cricket. It is claimed by it that said channels telecast sporting events such as ICC Cricket, BCCI Cricket, Formula 1, Barclays Premier League Football, ICC Cricket World Cup and Wimbledon.

2. Stating that organizers of sporting events incur huge expenses in organizing sporting events and recoup the revenue spent, through advertisements and sale of rights related to the event; the scope of the writ petition is said to be limited to television broadcasting rights.

3. Claiming to have acquired the broadcasting rights for the Indian Territory from International Cricket Council to broadcast cricket events organized by International Cricket Council, the petitioner states that it receives the feed from the organizer of the event which becomes the broadcast when the live signal is uploaded and downloaded and using the spectrum permitted to be used by the Government of India it reaches the consumer through the television set.

4. The issue concerns the legal obligation of the petitioner to share the live broadcasting signal with the first respondent: Prasar Bharti Broadcasting Corporation of India, a statutory corporation constituted under the Prasar Bharti (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act, 1990.

5. The petitioner principally seeks a declaration that its obligation to share live broadcast signals of sporting events of national importance with respondent No.1 is discharged by it sharing the live broadcast signal as per the feed made available to it by the organizer of the sporting event; with such commercial advertisements inserted by the organizer of the sporting event who is the principal ‘content right owner’ of the broadcast. The petitioner seeks a declaration that Rule 5 of the Sports Broadcast Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharti) Rules, 2007 is violative of Section 3 of the Sports Broadcast Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharti) Act, 2007 and ultra-vires Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

6. The factual backdrop leading to filing of the instant writ petition is that the mandate of Section 3 of Sports Broadcast Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharti) Act, 2007 obliges the petitioner to simultaneously share the live broadcast signal of sporting events of national importance which it intends to broadcast in India; and since the language of the Section was a subject matter of legal debate at the bar between learned senior counsel who appeared for the petitioner and the first respondent, we note the same. It reads as under:-

“3. Mandatory sharing of certain sports broadcasting signals-

(1) No content rights owner or holder and no television or radio broadcasting service provider shall carry a live television broadcast on any cable or Direct-to-Home network or radio commentary broadcast in India of sporting events of national importance, unless it simultaneously shares the live broadcasting signal, without its advertisements, with the Prasar Bharati to enable them to re-transmit the same on its terrestrial networks and Direct-to-Home networks in such manner and on such terms and conditions as may be specified.

(2) The terms and conditions under sub-section (1) shall also provide that the advertisement revenue sharing between the content rights owner or holder and the Prasar Bharati shall be in the ratio of not less than 75:25 in case of television coverage and 50:50 in case of radio coverage.

(3) The Central Government may specify a percentage of the revenue received by the Prasar Bharati under sub-section (2), which shall be utilised by the Prasar Bharati for broadcasting other sporting events.”

7. Having acquired the rights from International Cricket Council to broadcast in India sporting events organized by the Council, the petitioner informed the respondent No.1 on March