The government is likely to accept Telecom Regulatory Authority's recommendation and hold conditional access system in abeyance for three months, having received a nod from the law ministry on this matter.
TRAI had suggested that till it works out modalities for the smooth implementation of CAS, the system should be kept in abeyance, at least for three months while maintaining that this suggestion does not in any way contravene the high court order on the issue.
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"We consulted the law ministry today on whether TRAI's suggestion was contravening the high court order in December asking government to implement CAS and it opined that the present directive does not overrule HC. Now, government will issue a notification holding CAS in abeyance," official sources told PTI in New Delhi.
While asking the government to keep this system in abeyance, TRAI chairman Pradip Baijal had said earlier this week: "I believe keeping CAS in abeyance till the consultation process is completed is possible within the high court order. We are not contravening it in any way."
He said he had also consulted Attorney General Soli Sorabjee on legal issues involved before suggesting that CAS be deferred.
Baijal said the decision to defer CAS was taken by TRAI after detailed study of the regulatory systems prevalent in at least 20 other countries and that the deferment would bring consumers in all the four metros of Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai at par with each other.
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