A division bench of Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed the appeal filed by the producer of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi seeking to stay the termination notice served by the television channel Star TV, on which the serial airs. Balaji -- headed by Ekta Kapoor -- filed the appeal after single judge of High Court rejected its petition on November 3.
But division bench of Justices J P Deodhar and S J Kathawala too denied relief to the production house on Friday. The last episode of Kyunki... was aired on Thursday. Balaji had contended that the agreement between the two parties provided that the show will run at least upto March 2009. They also argued that the channel did not fulfill their obligation to promote the serial through advertising. However, the channel said the programme had outlived its life and it had to be taken off the air, because channel was losing viewers.
"The agreement provided that the serial could be stopped if its TRP fell by 20 per cent viz a viz the TRP in June 2008," Star's lawyer Ravi Kadam contended. Balaji's lawyer Janak Dwarkadas said that it was a flagship programme for both his client as well as Star. He also mentioned that the serial was popular in Afghanistan. "It made Star what it is today," he said.
But Kadam argued that serial was not ended due to any malice. "We won't cut our nose to spite our face," Kadam said, adding that fall in TRP hurt Star's advertising revenue. Friday's ruling leaves Balaji with two options: to move Supreme Court, or wait for arbitration proceedings. The agreement provides for appointment of arbitration panel in case any dispute arises.
