NEW DELHI, July 17: Though the Department of Telecom (DoT) notification banning Direct-To-Home (DTH) transmission and reception finally made its formal appearance today, it made no mention of its reason for existence: the impending Broadcasting Bill.An Information and Broadcasting Ministry official said it was felt by the Law Ministry that introducing a ``vague'' clause which stayed DTH till the Bill was passed by Parliament would leave the notification open to being challenged in courts.A report on the notification was issued on Wednesday evening to the United News of India, but was then withdrawn on the request of an official of the Ministry of Communications. The confusion was resolved on Thursday when the re-issue of the December 19 notification finally found its way to the Press Information Bureau. Till the afternoon, even the Principal Information Officer did not have a copy.The order banning DTH was cleared in principle by Information and Broadcasting Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Monday, passed through the Law Ministry, translated and then issued even as officials of Star TV met Reddy in the presence of I&B Secretary N P Nawani between 5.30 pm and 7.30 pm on Wednesday.The notification is different from its December 19 version in that it leaves no scope for any licenses to be issued for the reception of ``transient images of fixed and moving objects direct from satellite operating in broadcasting satellite service or fixed satellite service in frequency bands 4800 MHz and above'' (in plain language, it means DTH). This eliminates the legal complications that the DoT found itself in the Delhi and Mumbai High Courts for not granting licenses to two dealers in equipment for distribution of Star TV's DTH service.The explanatory memorandum of the notification, called the Radio, Television and Video Cassette Recorder Sets (Exemption from Licensing Requirements) Rules, 1997, says this technology of digital compression through the Ku-band would ``enable any broadcaster within or outside India to telecast or beam any programme of his choice directly to the houses and bedrooms of general public''.It says, therefore, it has ``become necessary to ensure that no person shall be allowed to start such a DTH service in India by establishing, maintaining, working, possessing or dealing'' in any such equipment.I&B Ministry officials, however, have not ruled out this July 16 notification being challenged in courts on grounds of ``violating fundamental rights''.The new Bill states that the government will allow a minimum of two DTH operators in the country, as part of its attempt to prevent monopolies and give a ``level playing field'' to Indian operators.By this notification the government has banned the installation and maintenance of direct-to-home television service by any person in the country.
