HC orders transfer of KBC suit from lower court

new delhi: the high court has ordered transfer of a suit, seeking a ban on popular game show kaun banega crorepati (kbc)'' on star tv for hearing before it, from a lower court. justice s n kapoor ordered transfer of the suit from the court of an additional district judge following a petition by news television india limited (ntil), a subsidiary of star tv in india.the matter would now be placed before justice n g nandi on december 20 to decide the bench which would hear the case. ntil had sought transfer of the suit on the grounds that it would result in duplication of trial. it also alleged that a motivated campaign had been launched against the programme by some vested interests by filing petitions in various courts of the country. the suit filed by advocate salim akhtar had sought a permanent injunction on the telecast of kbc, anchored by superstar amithabh bachachan, alleging that it amounted to gambling. additional district judge (adj) talwant singh in august had issued notices to ntil and zee telefilms for telecasting a similar game show. but the suit was challenged in the high court by ntil only. advocate shyam moorjani, appearing for akhtar, had opposed transfer of the suit contending that the high court could not encroach upon the civil jurisdiction of the lower courts. ntil counsel rajiv nayyar said under section 24 of code of civil procedure (cpc), it could transfer a civil matter for hearing. citing a supreme court ruling, nayar said there was apprehension of duplication of verdict by different courts. nayyar said in a normal situation the high court might not intervene in such a matter, but in the present case it was clear from the various petitions across the country that some people were working in tandem to get the show stopped. giving details about the other suits, he said all of them were identical.