Alld HC stays the order of Central govt on Set top boxes

Allahabad: As a major relief to non-set top box users, the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday has stayed a notification dated November 14, 2015 issued by the Central government making installation of set top box compulsory for TV viewers with effect from December 31,2105.

The bench comprising of Justice Tarun Agarwal and Justice VK Mishra passed the order on a petition filed by Allahabad Cable Networks and others. The Court has also asked the Information and Broadcasting ministry of the central government to file their reply within four weeks.

The petitioners have alleged that the installation of set top box was earlier made compulsory by the Central Government only in the major cities of the country but now by means of the impugned notification the same has been made compulsory in the entire country.

It was further stated that at present the set top box were not available in such a huge quantity and therefore it was not possible to provide boxes to all the customers within stipulated time . In spite of this cable network operators were being harassed by the authorities, the petitioner said.

The court will hear in this matter after one month.