Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT): Justice Shiva Kirti Singh (Chairperson) rejected the review application stating that the proceeding held and orders passed are on the basis of audit and other relevant materials for which sufficient opportunity was given to the parties.
In the present application, the respondents were represented by counsel Kunal Tandon, Shashank Shekhar and Amandeep Singh.
The main contention raised on behalf of the applicant by the counsel A.K. Parsaniya, AR is that the payments required to be made by the petitioner on the basis of order dated 24.1.2020 should be indicated as payments “on account” subject to any errors in the claim raised by the non-applicant and subject to outcome of a comprehensive audit by BECIL as ordered by this Tribunal itself in the order under review dated 24.1.2020.
The Tribunal observed the contentions to be meritless because the applicant/petitioner has already been subjected to audit which noted substantial non-compliance with Regulations. The applicant was under the wrong impression that audits are subject to further audit by BECIL as per orders of TDSAT. The BECIL audit as per TDSAT, has a definite purpose of finding out the exact period since when the petitioner’s system can be treated to be totally compliant with the Regulations and, therefore, its reports may safely be relied upon for the purpose of raising invoices by the broadcasters. The Tribunal further observed that the method of calculating the dues on estimation is not to be relied on indefinitely.
The Tribunal also assured that if the BECIL audit report reveals some new facts that can have a favorable impact on the petitioners, they are free to move the Tribunal.
The Tribunal stated that the proceeding held and orders passed are on the basis of audit already held and is not be associated with the BECIL’s audit and other relevant materials for which sufficient opportunity was given to the parties. The Tribunal refused to review only on the ground that there may be some errors in the accounts as they are always subject to reconciliation and can be a subject matter of the appropriate petition.
In view of the above, the Review Application is rejected.[Multireach Media Pvt. Ltd. v. Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd, 2020 SCC OnLine TDSAT 126, decided on 24-02-2020]
