MUMBAI: Nearly 10 days after the Bombay High Court passed an order banning adult content on movie channels, cable operators here continue to block out nine movie channels. The stand off is a result of the confusion that has arisen following the Court's ruling in a public interest litigation.

In an effort to break the deadlock, representatives of various channels submitted an undertaking in the court on Thursday, stating that they would not telecast adult content. The court, however, asked them to submit a more detailed undertaking, owning responsibility for the content.

Onus of implementation

The High Court has clarified that the channels need not be blocked, and the onus of implementation of the ruling is on the broadcasters, whether based in India or abroad. The court said the consumers could seek action against the cable operators for being deprived of pay channels.

However, confusion prevails on who will filter the content and how, and to what geographical limits this rule applies.

Yash Khanna from Star Movies told The Hindu , "Today, we submitted an undertaking in the court saying that we would broadcast only U and U/A certified movies. However, we have been asked to submit an undertaking. We will now include a detailed movie schedule for one month. Hopefully, the channels should be up by tomorrow."

Asked if the channel, which beams from Hong Kong, was considering getting "A" movies certified by the Censor Board with cuts, he said, "At the moment we will only include U and U/A movies in the schedule. We have not considered getting certification with cuts as it is a lengthy process, and it is important that the broadcast starts soon."

Anil Parab, president of the Cable Operators and Distributors Association, said nine channels were off the air. "After the police action, unless the broadcasters take complete responsibility for the content, how can we telecast the channels? We cannot do so unless the High Court accepts the broadcasters' undertaking, and we get decoders from the broadcaster."

The police seized decoders from cable operators. They have been presented as evidence.

The broadcasters are also asking for a certificate from the makers of music videos.

Ravi Mansukhani, who heads InCablenet, says, "Once the broadcasters take the responsibility, the multi-system operators do not have to worry. We are just the medium. The broadcasters have got the time to reschedule their programming and they will exclude "A" movies from the broadcast. We cannot do that. We are not even allowed to tamper with the broadcasters' signal. I hope all these issues are addressed in the Broadcast Bill."

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