PRABHAKAR SHANKAR DEODHAR Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN these proceedings which are instituted in the public interest under Article 226 of the Constitution, the petitioner seeks the issuance of a writ of mandamus to the Union of India in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, to the Prasar Bharati Broadcasting Corporation of India, and to the Indian Statistical Institute, or to any one of them, to constitute an autonomous body for releasing, "television Rating Points (TRPs) in relation to Television Channels and programmes so as to have a "common currency for the rating of Television channels and programmes duly acceptable to the advertisers and marketing companies, Government and general public with adequate checks and balance to ensure reliability thereof". The petitioner has stated that he is a professional Engineer-Scientist with over 45 years of experience in the field of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology. The petitioner was the Chairman of the Electronics Commission of India during 1984 and 1990 and during 1992-93 he was requested by the Union of India to be the Chairman of a committee for setting up the framework for the privatising of the Broadcast Media.

(2.) IN order to consider whether relief of the kind which has been prayed for in these proceedings can or should be granted by this Court in its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution, a brief reference would be necessary to the frame of the writ petition. The petition recites that Rs. 4,600/- crores is the annual expenditure which is incurred in connection with advertisements on Television. The advertising industry is governed by what to the trade are known as "television Rating Points" (TRPs) which indicate the viewership of a Television Channel or programme. Advertisement rates are determined by private broadcasters on the basis of these TRPs. The greater the popularity-in terms of viewership of a Television programme, as evidenced by a relatively higher TRP, the greater would be the rate which the programme would command for the placement of advertisements. The petition makes a reference to the fact that while advertisements of a duration of 10 seconds on a private channel command a rate between Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 4 lakhs, advertisements of a similar duration on Doordarshan would not generate a revenue in excess of Rs. 20,000/ -. According to the petition, most of the revenue generated in advertisements on Television is mopped up by the private channels and barely 20% thereof is received by Prasar Bharathi. According to the petition, "this is completely improbable" if regard be had to the fact that Doordarshan reaches out to 86 million homes unlike cable channels where individual homes or residences have a choice of over 60 channels to view, including Doordarshan. TRPs are generated by the fourth and fifth respondents. These two companies are privately managed, audience measuring agencies on whose rating advertisers depend while choosing the media for placing advertisements. The grievance of the petitioner is that these agencies are not under any Governmental supervision and there are no recognised or approved guidelines to be followed by these agencies. According to the petitioner, the methodology adopted by the fourth and fifth respondents in determining the extent viewership is flawed; the seize of the sample is inadequate, the sampling suffers from an urban bias and is primarily focused on cable homes. TRP Rating agencies install "people Meters" in certain homes of the sample population for the purposes of determining viewership. According to the petitioner, there is a reason to believe that the identity of the homes which form part of the sample is not confidential, as it should be and some Media Production Units "seem to have found ways to influence the TRP Rating". The petitioner has adverted to the provisions of the Communication Convergence Bill, 2001 which is stated to have been approved by the Cabinet and to be now pending before the Standing Committee. The petition highlights the fact that under Clause 18 (1) of the Bill, it shall be the duty of the Commission to facilitate and regulate all matters relating to carriage and content of communications, and under sub-clause (2) (xii) "to carry out any study and publish findings on matters of importance to the consumers, service providers and the communications industry". The petitioner relies upon certain reports in the press and in the electronic media which have questioned and authenticity of the methodology adopted by the fourth and fifth respondents for the determination of TRPs. It is stated that in 1998 Doordarshan and the private satellite channels had decided to jointly set up a common television viewership rating system, but that did not take place. In these circumstances, the petitioner seeks to invoke the extra-ordinary jurisdiction of this Court so as to ensure that the media trade is properly controlled and checked and "independent correct and acceptable TRPs are issued by an independent body under the control of law and Government and undue influence of the advertising and marketing agencies are remedied".

(3.) WE have heard learned Counsel for the parties.