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Deposit money to fast-track hearings, SC tells companies

In a first, the Supreme Court ordered corporate entities on Friday to deposit money for an early hearing of their dispute that pertains to rights over cricket-match information.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur directed Star India and BCCI to make a pre-deposit of Rs.50 lakh each, noting corporate cases were consuming a lot of judicial time. “People file cases and take chances here without realising what will happen,” the bench said.

It asked three respondents — Idea Cellular, Akuate Internet and OnMobile Global — to together deposit Rs.50 lakh, rejecting their contention that they should not be penalised for defending the case.

The order came a day after Attor ney General Mukul Rohatgi floated the idea of charging pre-deposits in corporate cases. Opposing the creation of National Courts of  Appeal in four regions, Rohatgi had on Thursday said the top court should adopt a self-regulatory mechanism to reduce pendency of cases.

There are 60,000 cases awaiting a final decision in the apex court. There are 26 judges including the CJI in SC against the sanctioned strength of 31. During the  hearing, Justice Thakur noted it was not feasible to increase the judges’ strength because it would create more confusion.

When Star India’s 2013 appeal against a Delhi High Court came up for hearing, the CJI wasted no time to implement Rohatgi’s suggestion. He first asked the parties how  much they were willing to deposit.

The counsel resisted the proposal, prompting the bench to remark: “It should be ideally 10 times the fees charged by you (senior advocates) for one hearing… it should  be one crore (rupees) since you take 10 lakh (rupees).”

The bench then said corporate matters were taking a lot of time. “You must make some payment. We will hear your case only after that,” it said.

After senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi , appearing for Star India, suggested Rs.25 lakh, the court finally settled for Rs.50 lakh. It gave both parties four weeks’ time to make the deposit with court’s registry, and said the case will be heard in July subject to the payment being made.

In its appeal before the apex court, Star India has contended that since it had paid for exclusive media rights to BCCI, others should not be allowed to disseminate  contemporaneous information.

The high court had declined the broadcaster’s plea that this amounted to interfering with Star India’s prospects of monetising it.

Hindustan times, New Delhi, 30 April 2016

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