MUMBAI: You can't accuse Prasar Bharti CEO KS Sarma of not having tried. But by the looks of things Sarma looks to have run out of cards to play as far as getting terrestrial telecast rights for the upcoming Indo-Pak series is concerned.
 
Sarma's last ditch attempt in appealing to the broadcast regulator to intervene has fallen flat after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) today said it has no jurisdiction in the matter.

"I don't think we have powers to do anything in this matter......there is no legal provision within the country to help us solve this issue," the Press Trust of India quoted Trai chairman Pradip Baijal as saying in New Delhi.

In a letter to Trai dated 13 February, 2004, Prasar Bharati Corporation, while seeking the regulator's intervention in the matter, had argued that a public broadcaster cannot be held to "ransom" by the telecast rights holder over commercial considerations.

"It is our firm view that the rights holders cannot hold us to ransom by not giving access to terrestrial rights merely on commercial considerations," Sarma had stated in the letter --- a copy of which is available with indiantelevision.com --- to Trai chairman Pradip Baijal.