Additional Solicitor-General P P Malhotra had last year assured the Court that the Centre would soon take a decision in the matter. However, on January 4, 2006, he hd informed the Court that the Centre still required one month to finalise the matter. Till date, the requisite action had not been taken, the judgement had stated. The government had notified implementation of CAS with effect from September 1, 2003, after making an amendment to the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.

The sources said,‘‘The notification had sparked a controversy with many TV watchers protesting, questioning the need to impose an unnecessary system that would entail a huge expenditure on their part. The entire rationale on whether the Centre or the Court can dictate technological choices needs to be looked into.’’