The Supreme Court has stepped into the dispute between dth provider Tata Sky and Sun tv. It has directed the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (tdsat) to adjudicate whether or not the Tata and Star tv owned dth company can access select signals of Sun tv.

Meanwhile, the issue of broadcast rights got murkier with Tata Sky dropping 13 channels of Zee tv from its platform. Tata Sky claimed that according to a tdsat's order of March 31, 2007, the dth operator could retain 19 of the 32 Zee channels.

Zee had earlier contended that under the must-carry regulations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (trai), dth operators should carry all its channels. But this was overruled by tdsat, following which Tata Sky took the 13 disputed Zee channels off air.

The tables are somewhat turned in the dth operator's dispute with Sun tv. The television channel is willing to share its signals, but wants Tata Sky to carry all of its 20 channels as part of a bouquet, a demand the dth operator has rejected. Tata Sky had approached the Supreme Court against an earlier Madras High Court's order that stayed implementation of tdsat's interim direction to Sun tv for sharing signals on a-la-carte basis. The dth operator's petition, claimed that according to trai's regulations, every broadcaster must provide its channels when requested by a distributor so that the interests of competition is served.