Tuesday, July 18, 2006

CBNSat Supreme Court Case postponed to 1st August 2006

They have done it again. Our friends sorry I mean the legal system which belongs to never never land have postponed the case to August 1st 2006 again.

The best part is that in light of certain decisions given by the Supreme Court with regards to a newspaper, etc we can have some faith in the Supreme Court. Does anyone know who the judge is?

We are not sure of the reason why the postponement took place but we are made to understand that the judge has asked the TRC and the Media Ministry why CBNSat has been closed down and asked them to give the reasons at the next hearing. They have been giving several reasons for the closure in the previous Magistrates Court hearings that they will have to give a proper reason this time since this is the Supreme Court. The best part is that we do not think that they can come to court and say that they had no time since they are dealing with the Supreme Court here.

Anyway we are not 100% certain of what transpired in the Supreme Court today and we would like our fellow bloggers and CBNSat customers to keep us posted on the story as the day progresses. We would also like to request all our fellow bloggers to continue to put pressure on the authorities by sending them letters, until the system is back on air.

We are also getting unconfirmed reports that LBN reps are saying that LBN will get their license on Friday 21st July 2006. Please click on the link below for that full story.

LBN license to be issued on 21 July 2006 : LBN Reps

5 comments:

Lightning_Struck_Tower said...

Here we go again. Another postponement. I guess we'll have to wait till next month for next update.

However, kudos for CBNsat for not shutting down the company and still having hopes to invest further in this goddamned country. They've stated in the papers that they are not shutting down and will resume transmission but cannot say when. (Sunday Times FT last week). I hope they stand by what they said and i will support them till the very end (happy ending I hope)

And if we are talking about the foreign program tax, it's pure bullshit. Again, the ones that are hit hardest by this tax is the middle class and lower middle class citizens. Is television broadcasts the only medium of foreign entertainment? It's not. But it's the most affordable and technically feasible. Therefore it is the most popular way. Government has blocked the most affordable way. But those who can afford DVDs and VCDs will still have access to foreign programs. And can the govt block ppl from downloading movies via ADSL? (hope the gay fucktards wont cut off SEA-ME-WEA cables and ban ADSL after reading this) It's not possible to contain the flow of information in the informational age. . Will the blockade of sources of information make the dumb, intelligent? The retrievers should be wise to choose between good and bad

Unfortunately for Srilankans, we have a government which lives in the stone age. To make things worse, this government is supported by officials who have gone to the extremes of corruption, bribery, hatred, jealousy and selfishness.

The end is near.

Lisura said...

CBNsat: TRC to be heard

COLOMBO: The Supreme Court yesterday decided that the Media Minister and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) should be heard before the application for Leave to Proceed is considered on a Fundamental Rights application filed by SonicNet Technologies and CBNsat and fixed the matter for support again on August 1.

The decision was a sequel to an application made by President's Counsel D.S. Wijesinghe on behalf of Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, who sought to intervene in the application. The Court allowed the application for the intervention.

The Bench comprised Justice Dr. (Mrs.) Shirani Bandaranayake, Justice Raja Fernando and Justice Andrew Somawansa.

Petitioner Sonic Net Technologies (Pvt) Ltd. cited four officers attached to the Criminal Investigation Department including Inspector U.L. Mahindadasa and the Attorney General as respondents.

The Petitioner in his petition stated that he obtained a license to operate an External Gateway Operator License under Section 17 of Sri Lanka Telecommunications Act on 28th February 2003 by the Mass Communication Minister on the recommendation of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka. The Petitioner further stated that he was responsible for providing several television channels to viewers.

It was submitted on 6th June 2006 the 1st, 2nd & 3rd Respondents, namely CID Police Officers, wrongfully and unlawfully without any right seized the Petitioner's telecommunications equipment and prevented the Petitioner from operating its services and pleaded the petitioner's fundamental rights as guaranteed by Articles 12, 12(1) and 14(1)(g) of the Constitution have been violated.

Sathya Hettige, PC Additional Solicitor General appearing on behalf of the Respondents submitted that the External Gateway Operator License that was issued to the Petitioner permitted the Petitioner only to operate an international telecommunications service by using a satellite and he further submitted to court that the Police Officers obtained a search warrant from the Colombo Magistrate and executed the search warrant in respect of the premises where Communique Broadband Network Pvt. Ltd was operating television broadcasting services to the subscribers by using a satellite without a valid license under the Rupavahini Corporation Act.

Hettige further submitted that the execution of the search warrant as ordered by the Magistrate did not constitute an administrative or executive action and therefore was a judicial act which did not attract the provisions of Article 126 of the Constitution.

He told court that the Petitioner filed revision papers against the order of the Magistrate and sealing of the equipment by the Police and the High Court Judge refused to grant the stay order. The Revision application is still pending, and there is no fundamental rights violation as alleged by the Petitioner.

When the above application was supported by the President's Counsel for the Petitioner, an application was made to court by Mr. D.S. Wijesinghe, PC and Mr. Palitha Kumarasinghe, PC that the Media Minister who is the license issuing authority under the Rupavahini Corporation Act and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission should be made necessary parties to the application.

After submissions by both Counsel, Justice Shirani Bandaranaike, Justice Raja Fernando and Justice Andrew Somawansa decided that the Media Minister and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission should be heard before the application for Leave to Proceed is considered and fixed the matter for support again on 1st August 2006.

Romesh de Silva, PC, with Sugath Caldera instructed by G.G. Arulpragasam appeared for the petitioner.

ASG Saththya Hettige PC appeared for the respondents.

The hearing was fixed for August 1.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2006/07/19/news15.asp

Lisura said...

I think it's all gone back to the start where things have began.

Now the court says TRC and the Media Ministry to be heard on the August 1st.

This will be a never ending story till CBNSat shuts down. That's the ultimate goal of the people who started this whole scenario.

Even the subscribers too seem to be frustrated now. They even don't care about the money they spent. We can't be wasting our time on this we have 1000 of other things in life.

Interesting to see the page no. 25 of todays Daily news. TRC have put 2 notices with regard to 2 companies which violated the agreement with TRC. Namely the companies are 2 ISP's Lanka Global Online and Pan Lanka. According to the notice these 2 companies were not complying to the TRC regulations from 2002.

I hope TRC would have given notices to them in several occasions and now they have openly given them a time frame to comply with the regulations. Failing to do so TRC will initiate legal action against these companies and probably seal them preventing their business operations.

This is the way TRC has to act if anyone is commiting something against TRC regulations.

I beleive the same should apply to CBNSat and LBN if they have violated anything with regard to the licences they had.

But it was not the same for CBNSat and LBN.

WHY ????

WE ALL KNOW WHY NOW !!!!!!

justavisitor said...

SC wants to hear Media Minister

By S.S. Selvanayagam and T. Farook Thajudeen

The Supreme Court yesterday directed that the Media Minister and the TRC (Telecommunication Regulatory Commission) should be heard before proceeding with the fundamental rights violation case filed by SonicNet Technologies (Pvt) Ltd.

When the matter came up before the Bench comprising Justices Shirani A. Bandaranayake, Raja Fernando and Andrew Somawansa, President’s Counsel D.S. Wijesinghe appearing for the Minister of Media and Mass Communication informed court that he had a proxy from the Minister. He said the Minister wished to intervene in the matter.

Court was of the view that before making a decision in this matter, court should hear the Minister and re-fixed the hearing to August 1.

Petitioner SonicNet cited Chief Inspector U.K. Mahindadasa, Superintendent of Police A.R. Vaidyalankara and Sub Inspector L. Tilak Bandara, all of Police Commercial Crime Unit –II, the IGP and the Attorney General as respondents.

Petitioner states that the Minister issued an External Gateway Operator License (EGO License) to operate until January 31, 2013 on the recommendation of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission. Since May 2005, it has been responsible for providing several television channels such as BBC World, CNN News and National Geographic Channel to over 20,000 homes throughout the island.

The petitioner alleged that on June 6, the first three respondents wrongfully sealed and seized its equipment and prevented it from using its equipment and operating its services.

Petitioner pleaded that the respondents claimed that they sealed and seized the premises under an order from the Magistrate. Petitioner contends that the Magistrate did not order or authorise to do so in his order and search warrant.

Petitioner is asking the court to grant compensation of Rs 100 million and an interim order directing the respondents to remove the seal and seizure of its equipment and not to obstruct it from using the said premises.

Additional Solicitor General Sathiya Hettige appearing on behalf of the respondents submitted that the EGO License that was issued to the petitioner permitted only to operate international telecommunication services by using the satellite. The police officers obtained a search warrant from the Magistrate of Colombo and executed the search warrant in respect of the premises at No 83 where Communique Broadband Network Pvt Ltd and CBN Sat Pvt Ltd were operating television broadcasting services to the subscribers by using the satellite without a valid license under the Rupavahini Corporation Act. He further said that the execution of the search warrant as ordered by the Magistrate did not constitute an administrative or executive action and therefore was a judicial act which did not attract the provisions of Article 126 of the constitution.

President’s Counsel Romesh de Silva with Sugath Caldera, Riad Ameen and Evaj de Silva instructed by G. G. Arulpragasam appeared for the petitioner. Additional Solicitor General Sathya Hettige with Senior State Counsel Sumathi Dharmawardana appeared for the respondents.

Source:DailyMirror

Sanjeev Thurusinghe said...

TRC, still comet cable operates cable transmision in all over colombo & suberbs ( with sub agents - with SLT & CEB POLES}why canot take action.also under world people were deployed at the office. over to CID, TRC. SLRC, MEDIA MINISTRY.& TV LANKA DOG.