Mumbai: TV channels back on air

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August 22, 2006 23:57 IST

Maharashtra's cable operators, who had blocked all television channels for the last two days to protest against police action, resumed services on Tuesday night after the state government assured them that they will not be troubled.

The cable operators, who met Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil on Tuesday night, will start broadcasting all channels except nine movie channels which are at the centre of the controversy after police stopped its telecast for allegedly showing adult movies in contravention of the high court order.

"The state will not punish any stakeholder who has not violated any norm and cable operators' plea will be heard. If broadcasting channels are guilty, we will initiate action against them. However, this matter is sub-judice and the law will take its own course," Patil said.

Ganesh Naidu, chairman of Cable Operators and Distributors Association, told PTI that they apprised Patil of the various problems faced by the cable industry while adhering to content regulation norms prescribed by the Cable TV Network Act.

"We are happy that our plight has been heard by the state... and we will represent this situation to the judiciary as well," he added.

Cable operators have filed an intervention petition in the Bombay high court, asking why broadcasters and DTH operators were not being taken to task by the authorities. The petition is likely to come up for hearing on Wednesday.

All cable TV channels had gone off the air on Monday in Mumbai after police stopped their telecast in the wake of nine major movie channels allegedly showed adult movies in breach of a Bombay high court order, police said.

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