Dispute surfaces over ETV chairmanship

The High Court Division yesterday issued a rule upon the chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to show cause within two weeks why he should not be directed to grant a licence in favour of the ETV to air its programmes through satellite transmission.

The rule came upon a writ filed by Nasir A Chowdhury who claimed to be the chairman of ETV Limited.

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In another writ filed by Nasir Chowdhury, the High Court issued a rule on Saturday asking the government to explain within two weeks why the equipment of the ETV should not be returned to its owner.

The government seized ETV's satellite communication equipment following a Supreme Court verdict on August 29 last year that declared the channel's licence for terrestrial transmission illegal.

Earlier, the High Court had issued a similar rule upon a writ filed by Abdus Salam, who also claimed to be the chairman of ETV Limited.

Abdus Salam in his petition submitted that the BTRC had rejected an appeal for granting licence to ETV to resume its programmes through satellite transmission.

On the other hand, Nasir A Chowdhury in his petition submitted that he applied for ETV licence on May 29. But as he did not receive any reply from the BTRC, he sought a direction from the court in this regard.

The court set August 3 for analogous hearing on the rules.