WorldTel sues DD over non-payment of duty

NEW DELHI, May 29: Barely two days after the Independence Cup, telecast of which was co-produced by WorldTel and Doordarshan, the American ...

NEW DELHI, May 29: Barely two days after the Independence Cup, telecast of which was co-produced by WorldTel and Doordarshan, the American company has dragged the national network to the Delhi High Court for `dishonouring of past commitments’ to the tune of over a crore rupees.

WorldTel alleged before a division bench comprising Justice YK Sabharwal and Justice DK Jain that DD has failed to pay to the Customs Department duty worth over Rs 83 lakh for bringing in uplinking equipment for the Challenger Cup, 1995, held at Calcutta.

The bench issued notice to the national network and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and asked them to file reply by July 17. The court also asked DD to bring all relevant files pertaining to the Customs duty payment for the uplinking equipment brought to India by World Tel for the Challenger Cup and posted the matter for further hearing on August six.

Counsel for the petitioner, senior advocate Arun Jaitley with Indu Malhotra, said it was clear from the internal files of DD that it had gone back on its word.