On 21 November, the High Court heard the petitioners, who said their original grievance of only ODIs and T20 matches, and not Test matches being included for compulsory sharing has been partially redressed with the ministry including the current India-Pakistan home Test series, but termed this as arbitrary.

"We have been partly redressed when the ministry shifted its original position of not naming Test matches as games of national importance for compulsory sharing with DD, but this only shows that the government is exercising its powers arbitrarily.

"Why only a selective series? What are the criteria on which the current series is being shared with DD? The government, so long as it does not lay down clear criteria, will act arbitrarily," said D K Singh, senior counsel for the petitioners.

"This means that the government can suddenly decided not to include the Test series with Australia, which is coming up in December, without ascribing reason, which is not acceptable in a democracy," Singh stressed.

He added that the court heard his client and disposed off the original petition and granted them leave to file a fresh petition with this specific complaint, which will be done in the next few weeks.

Asked what should be the criteria, Singh said that all Test matches involving India, whether under the aegis of BCCI or ICC, must be treated as tourneys of national interest and must be allowed to be viewed by all sections of the people, not just those who can afford pay channels.

The Panchayat had filed the original case when the government introduced the Law on compulsory sharing of sporting events of national interest with Prasar Bharati.

The government had issued a list of such games, and in the case of cricket, all ODIs and T20s were mentioned as games of national importance, but Test matches had been left out.

The inclusion of the current India Pakistan Test series in the selective list of Tests has given a handle to the Panchayat to challenge the notification on firmer ground, Singh said.