BHIM VAKANTICHORUS COMMUNICATION Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two petitions under Art. 226 of the Constitution challenge the decision of the Director General, Doordarshan allotting 52 Episodes commissioned under the "Commissioned Programme Scheme for Celebration of Fifty Years of Independence of India" in the second phase to respondents Nos. 7 to 24 and for consequential reliefs.

(2.) When 52 Episodes in the first phase were allotted by the respondents to certain persons that allotment came to be challenged in Special Civil Application No. 2597 of 1997. That Special Civil Application came to.be disposed of by a Division Bench of this Court on 17.4.1997 in view of the statement made by the learned Senior of the statement made by the learned Senior Standing Counsel for the Union of India that "Fresh proposals of commissioned programmes on various subjects including subject of 50th Anniversary of India's Independence and allied subject will be accepted from those producers who were not already given assignment in the month of March 1997. Proposals thus received upto 30th April 1997 will be processed and finalised as expeditiously as possible. Their programmes will be treated at par with the commissioned programmes already contracted. It has been decided to prepare a panel of producers/directors as provided in the guidelines forthwith for future reference. The Director, Doordarshan Kendra, Ahmedabad, will set up an Evaluation Committee as provided in Para 17 of the guidelines. The proposals that may now be received will be considered for selection in light of the evaluation by the Evaluation Committee. The programmes already contracted will also be subject to evaluation by the said Evaluation Committee in so far as all the remaining stages are concerned. It is also made clear that payments will be subject to release of funds in view of the pendency of the budget." In view of the aforesaid arrangement which had universal consensus, the petition was not pressed and permitted to be withdrawn at that stage with clarification that if there was any difficulty in implementation of the said arrangement any party was at liberty to apply.

(3.) Hence the respondent authorities invited application for the second phase of the commissioned programme for celebration of Fifty years of Independence. In this second phase also 52 Episodes were to be allotted. Alongwith others, the two petitioners herein Bhim Vakani Nimesh Desai of Chorus Communication who are producers and directors of T.V. Films, feature films, documentary and other activities connected with electronic media-also applied. The Evaluation Committee, consisting of the following experts: 1. Prof. RN.Pathak 2. Dr. Chandrakant Metha 3. Prof. Ramesh Dave 4. Shri Bakul Tripathi 5. Mrs. Brahmagna Trivedi considered 216 proposals out of which it selected 37 proposals including the petitioners' proposals for 70 Episodes on different subject. The list of proposals selected by the Evaluation Committee thus consisted of 37 proposals with details about the name or banner of the producer, track record, subject, Format, number of episodes proposed by the producer and the number of episodes recommended by the Evaluation Committee. The proposals selected by the Evaluation Committee were sent by the Director, Doordarshan Kendra, Ahmedabad to the Director General Doordarshan, New Delhi for final shortlisting of the episodes for selection of 52 Episodes out of 70 Episodes recommended by the Evaluation Committee. The Controller of Programmes by his letter dated 3.2.1998 informed the Director, Doordarshan Kendra, Ahmedabad that the proposals of respondents Nos. 7 to 24 were approved by the Directorate for 52 Episodes mentioned against the names of the respective producers. It is the aforesaid decision which is being challenged in the present petition. Affidavit-in-reply is filed by T. R. Malakar, Deputy Director General, Doordarshan, New Delhi, who was Chairman of the Committee which made the final selection as aforesaid.