TDSAT to conduct hearing at six more cities including Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai

New Delhi: Telecom and broadcasting sector tribunal TDSAT will now conduct its hearing at six additional cities apart from Delhi, a government notification said.

The new cities, where the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) would conduct its sittings are Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Cuttack, Kolkata, Amritsar and Indore.

This would be in addition to holding sittings of TDSAT at New Delhi, said the notification issued by the ministry of communications dated August 12 published on August 20.

The decision was taken by the government in consultation with the chairperson of TDSAT with "regard to the urgency, nature and in the interest of justice in the matters".

The sitting would be "for a period of two years from the date of publication," the notification added.

The TDSAT bench comprises chairman and two members. Information and Broadcasting sector firms have been demanding TDSAT to set up additional benches because several operators don't have enough means to travel to and from Delhi for making appeals and attend cases.

In a separate notification published on August 20, the telecom ministry announced the appointment of former Allahabad High Court Justice (Retd) Ram Krishna Gautam as member of TDSAT.