The man directly affected by the ordinance, Prasar Bharati CEO Surrindar Singh Gill responded with a sarcastic ``congratulations'' when told of the news, which he pointed out, he had already watched on Doordarshan on the 9 o'clock news.

``My strategy now is very clear,'' he said. ``I will go to court and I think I have a very strong case.'' His lawyer Kapil Sibal, he said, was not in town and would return only on Sunday. ``I will consult him and then seek legal redress,'' he said.

All India Radio Director-General OP Kejriwal will take over temporarily from Gill tomorrow itself and function as CEO. But aside from the much-reported removal of Gill, who now effectively becomes over-age, the ordinance restores the 22-member Parliamentary Committee and 14-member Broadcasting Council, which have been criticised as tampering with the autonomy of Prasar Bharati. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sushma Swaraj has been at pains, however, to distinguish between Government control and Parliamentary accountability, which the ordinance seeks to reinstate.

The ordinance was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday after a controversial aborted passage through Parliament.

Opposition members asserted that the Government had deliberately not introduced the Prasar Bharati Bill in the Rajya Sabha because it was not sure of its majority -- it was, however, passed in the Lok Sabha with an easy majority. A delegation of 124 Rajya Sabha members also met the President in this connection.

Between now and the winter session the Government will have to walk the tightrope in keeping the independence of Prasar Bharati intact in order to ensure the ratification of the ordinance by Parliament.

Also, now the selection committee comprising VicePresident Krishan Kant, Press Council Chairman Justice (retd) PB Sawant and Government nominee TVR Shenoy will have to find a replacement for Gill and the late Nikhil Chakravarty who was Chairman.

The ordinance also provides for restoring Broadcasting Council which would monitor the programming content of Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR), the sources said.

Among the names for Chairman is that of veteran journalist MV Kamath and for CEO is former Zee TV programming chief Chandra Prakash Dwivedi.

Meanwhile, the post of Director General of Doordarshan has been lying vacant since the beginning of the year when the last encumbent KS Sharma was transferred to the I&B ministry.