LHC declares auction of DTH licenses illegal

LAHORE: A full member bench of Lahore High Court on Wednesday declared the auction of Direct-to-Home service (DTH) licenses ‘illegal’ in its ruling.

The bench, headed by Justice Aisha A. Malik, ruled sub-Article 3 of Article 13 of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) as illegal and said that a broadcaster can also become a distributor.

In November, PEMRA auctioned three DTH licenses for Rs 14.69 billion.

The highest bid was raised by Mag Entertainment for Rs 4.91 billion, followed by M/s. Shahzad Sky for Rs 4.90 billion and M/s. Star time for Rs 4.89 billion, respectively.

Licenses to the bid winners were to be awarded after clearance from the interior ministry and law enforcement agencies.

The auction process had been started after conditional permission from the Supreme Court.