The Civil Court has ruled that the agreement made between the government and Broadcasting Maldives Pvt Ltd, the company that runs DhiTV – mentions only cable and satellite broadcasting and nothing about terrestrial broadcasting frequency.
The company had gone to court claiming the government was obligated to give them a terrestrial broadcasting frequency. DhiTV, an opposition-aligned network, currently broadcasts over cable and satellite.
Ruling on the case, Judge Maryam Nihayath said that cable, satellite and terrestrial broadcasting were three different types of broadcasting and the granting of permission for cable and satellite broadcasting did not mean that terrestrial broadcasting had to be permitted as well.
Nihayath also said the agreement made between the government and Broadcasting Maldives Pvt Ltd did not indicate that the company had been granted permission for terrestrial broadcasting, and that the rights mentioned in the agreement concerned only satellite and cable broadcasting.
Broadcasting Maldives Pvt Ltd claimed that the company needed terrestrial broadcasting permission to make the best use of the license issued by the government, and requested that the court order the state to grant permission for terrestrial broadcasting.
Concluding the verdict, Judge Nihayath said there were no grounds for the government to issue a terrestrial broadcasting frequency to Broadcasting Maldives Pvt Ltd.
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