Madras High Court
R.Kannan vs The Secretary on 9 December, 2021
Author: Krishnan Ramasamy
Bench: Krishnan Ramasamy
W.P.No.25176 of 2018
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 09.12.2021
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE KRISHNAN RAMASAMY
W.P.No.25176 of 2018
and
WMP.Nos.29256 & 29257 of 2018
1.R.Kannan
2.A.Jegatheesan
3.S.Arasakumar
4.C.Rajendran
5.T.Jayakumar
6.B.Assan Mohamed
7.A.Mumtaj ...Petitioners
..Vs..
1.The Secretary,
Government of India,
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
'A' Wing Shastri bhavan,
Dr.Rajendra Prasad Road,
New Delhi - 110 001.
2.M/s. Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited,
Represented by Managing Director,
"Dugar Towers", 6th Floor,
Old No.34, New No.123,
Marshalls Road,
Egmore, Chennai - 600 008.
3.The District Collector,
District Collector Office,
Ooty,
Nilgiri District.
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis
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W.P.No.25176 of 2018
4.The Assistant Manager/Special Tahsildar,
Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation,
Coonoor,
Nilgiri District. ...Respondents
PRAYER : Petition filed Under Article 226 of the Constitution of India
praying for the issuance of Writ of Mandamus, directing the 1st and 3rd
respondents to intervene and forbear the 2nd and 4th respondents from
taking over the optic fiber line of the petitioners laid in Coonoor Taluk
and Kothagiri Taluk at Nilgiri District based on the petitioners
representation dated 07.09.2018.
For Petitioner : Mr.Vinodh Raj
for Mr.B.Prasanna Vinoth
For R1 : Mr.K.Ramamoorthy
Central Government Standing Counsel
For R2 & R4 : Mr.Abdul Saleem
Standing Counsel
For R3 : Mr.M.Shahjahan
Special Government Pleader
ORDER
This Writ Petition has been filed, seeking for issuance of a Writ of Mandamus, to direct the 1st and 3rd respondents to intervene and forbear the 2nd and 4th respondents from taking over the optic fiber line of the petitioners laid in Coonoor Taluk and Kothagiri Taluk at Nilgiri District based on the petitioners representation dated 07.09.2018. https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis 2/6 W.P.No.25176 of 2018
2. The case of the petitioners is that the petitioners are Local Cable TV operators (LCO) from the year 1989 onwards and they have been taking signals from the 2nd respondent. Now, the 2nd respondent has introduced new LCO in the existing LCO area to disturb the business of the petitioners.
3. Mr.Abdul Saleem, learned Standing Counsel appearing for the 2nd and 4th respondent/Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation (in short, 'TACTV') submitted that they are not intervening with the petitioners taking signals from the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation. Further, the learned counsel for 4th respondent/TACTV have not taken over the Optic Fiber line of the petitioners laid in the Coonoor Taluk and Kothagiri Taluk at Nilgiri District, which had been laid for more than 75 kms. Further, he submitted that Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation cannot venture into all those misdeeds of illegal take over of petitioners' optic fiber line. Therefore, he submitted that the Writ Petition is liable to be dismissed.
4. Further, he submits that the petitioners have been retaining unused set top boxes and even though they are getting signals from the private MSO, still they are keeping the set top boxes of the 2 nd respondent without any use and they are supposed to return the same. https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis 3/6 W.P.No.25176 of 2018
5. In reply, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that the petitioners are ready to surrender the unused set top boxes.
6. In view of the above, the petitioners are directed to return all the unused set-up boxes to the 4th respondent. The statement made by the learned counsel for the 2nd and 4th respondent/TACTV are recorded to the extend that they have not been venturing into the act of taking over the optic fiber line of the petitioners as alleged in the petition. Hence, the Writ Petition is liable to be dismissed and accordingly, this Court dismiss the Writ Petition. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petitions are closed.
09.12.2021 Index : Yes / No Internet : Yes / No Speaking/Non-speaking order mpl/jd https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis 4/6 W.P.No.25176 of 2018 To
1.The Secretary, Government of India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting 'A' Wing Shastri bhavan, Dr.Rajendra Prasad Road, New Delhi - 110 001.
2.M/s. Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited, Represented by Managing Director, "Dugar Towers", 6th Floor, Old No. 34, New No. 123, Marshalls Road, Egmore, Chennai - 600 008
3.The District Collector, District Collector Office, Ooty, Nilgiri District.
4.The Assistant Manager/Special Tahsildar, Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation, Coonoor, Nilgiri District.
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis 5/6 W.P.No.25176 of 2018 KRISHNAN RAMASAMY, J.
jd/mpl W.P.No.25176 of 2018 and WMP No.29256 & 29257 of 2018 09.12.2021 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis 6/6