The Delhi High Court on Wednesday permitted withdrawal of a writ petition seeking public access to the broadcast of the FIFA World Cup 2026 in India, observing that the reliefs sought could not be granted in the present proceedings as such access was not a matter of right, while leaving it open to the petitioner to pursue any other remedy available in law.
The matter was heard in continuation of a plea raising concerns over the absence of confirmed broadcasting arrangements for the tournament in India.
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Appearing for the Union, Adv Radhika Bishwajit Dubey opposed the plea, while counsel for Prasar Bharati submitted that the public broadcaster was under no obligation to acquire broadcasting rights for such events, particularly when discussions between FIFA and broadcasters were already underway.
Appearing for the petitioner, Senior Advocate Vaibhav Gaggar argued that the stand undermined the legislative intent of the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act, 2007, which seeks to ensure public access to sporting events of national importance.
He further submitted that while over 180 countries had already secured broadcasting rights, India remained without a deal, despite the tournament’s global significance.
During the hearing, when the petitioner sought liberty to file a PIL, the Court orally indicated that the petitioner was free to pursue any remedy available in law, but clarified that it was not expressing any opinion on such future proceedings.
Following the Court’s observations, the petitioner withdrew the writ petition with liberty to take recourse to other legal remedies.
Appearances:
For the Petitioner: Senior Advocate Vaibhav Gaggar, assisted by Avdhesh Bairwa, Ankit Konwar, Jyoti Kumar Chaudhary, Rohit Jolly, Subhashni Kumari, Prateek Singh, Nishi Rathore, Nishi Kashyap, Abhishek Nair, and Akash Kumar.
For the Union: CGSC Radhika Bishwajit Dubey
Filed by Advocate Avdhesh Bairwa