The verdict comes after over a decade since the first petition was moved in 2013, and the last petition in 2021.THE Delhi High Court on Friday upheld the 2012-2013 regulation over broadcast and cable services that fixes 12 minutes of ads per hour, with a 10-minute cap on commercial advertisements and a 2-minute cap for self-promotional ads.A division bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Amit Mahajan disposed of 17 petitions, filed by entertainment channels, news broadcasters, regional channels among others, challenging the regulation by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as being violative of Article 14 (right to equality) and Article 19 (right to free speech). The regulation was brought in in 2012 and amended in 2013.The verdict comes after over a decade since the first petition was moved in 2013, and the last petition in 2021.The broadcasters had pointed out that their primary revenue source is advertising and the time ceiling interferes with it, undermines the broadcasters’ economic viability and impacts their right to commercial speech.The Centre, on the other hand, had argued that since advertisements is a major source of revenue for broadcasters, they deliberately lengthen the duration of commercial breaks, thus reducing the quality of viewing experience. It was also argued that the broadcasters do not have unfettered right to access or use airwaves which is scarce public property.The bench, recording the well-settled position of law that spectrum and airwaves constitute scarce, finite public resources which vest in the people, and are held by the State in a fiduciary capacity as trustee, reasoned that “broadcasters cannot claim an unfettered right to exploit spectrum for commercial purposes,” and thus the state can regulate the manner and extent of such usage.“The measures taken by TRAI to impose a temporal limit on advertisements, in order to ensure that no material resource is exploited for excessive commercial gain by broadcasters, bear a proximate and rational nexus to the constitutional mandate of ensuring that material resources of the community are distributed and utilised so as to subserve the common good,” the court held.Story continues below this adThe bench reasoned, “Once broadcasters avail themselves of the privilege of utilising public spectrum under statutory licence, they cannot disclaim the corresponding obligation to adhere to conditions designed to regulate its use in the public interest. The imposition of a temporal ceiling on advertisements is one such condition, directed not at suppressing expression, but at structuring the use of a public resource in a manner consistent with viewer welfare.” Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court Professional Profile Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express. Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare). Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others. She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020. With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles: High-Profile Case Coverage She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots. She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy. Signature Style Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system. X (Twitter): @thanda_ghosh ... Read More Tags:delhi high courtTRAI