HKTV asks High Court to quash government’s rejection of bid for broadcast licence
HKTV lawyer tells court that chief executive and Executive Council failed to discharge duty to give adequate reasons for refusing its licence
The government acted unfairly when it suddenly introduced a "gradual and orderly approach" in considering free-to-air television licences, a lawyer for failed bidder Hong Kong Television Network said yesterday.
Barrister Russell Coleman SC told the Court of First Instance that prior to this new approach, it had been government policy to foster fair competition by not imposing any limit on the number of licences.
Coleman was spelling out HKTV's argument in its application for a judicial review of the government's decision on October 15 last year to award licences to channels run by established players PCCW and iCable, but not to HKTV.
He claimed that it had been government policy since 1998 to have fair competition in the market through not imposing any limit on the number of licences.
"The [Chief Executive in Council] failed to seek the views and recommendations of the Communications Authority as to the introduction of the alleged gradual and orderly approach and the impact this would have on the outcome of the free television licence applications," he said.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and the Executive Council had also failed to discharge their common law duty to provide adequate reasons for the decision to refuse HKTV a licence.
The company had then been precluded from amending its application and had no opportunity to address in substantive terms the new approach of the government.
