Though Aggarwal's appointment was approved by the Prasar Bharati board, it was objected to by the ministry's nominee on the board, K S Sarma, on technical grounds. Aggarwal is expected to investigate in depth Doordarshan's deal with the Stracon-led sports consortium and the replacement of the serial Chandrakanta with Sri Krishna.

The ministry's action comes at a time when it has decided to despatch Harish Awasthi as Officer on Special Duty to Prasar Bharati and when acting CEO O P Kejriwal, who is Aggarwal's relative, has gone on leave for a week. The ministry is also expected to appoint the Engineers-in-Chief of DD and All India Radio (AIR) as acting Directors-General soon.

Aggarwal was asked to file anaffidavit by Delhi High Court single bench judge of Justice Dalveer Bhandari in which he tendered an ``unqualified apology'' for insulting the Stracon counsel -- Stracon has gone to court against Prasar Bharati for demanding a revision of the cricket World Cup agreement.

Stracon and DD spent another fruitless day trying to come to a reconciliation pact, with Kejriwal insisting that Stracon raise the minimum guarantee it has assured to DD in view of a competing higher offer. The hearing has been adjourned for Monday.