The Delhi high court on Wednesday sought reply from the government on an allegation by Zee-promoted Siti Cable Network that it deferred indefinitely the implementation of the conditional access system in the capital for extraneous and impermissible reasons.

A bench comprising Chief Justice B C Patel and A K Sikri fixed September 24 for hearing the petition after Additional Solicitor General K K Sud said he has to seek instruction from the government on the issue.

Siti Cable has challenged the August 29 notification deferring indefinitely the implementation of CAS in the capital from September 1 contending that it was unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary and contrary to the public interest.

Senior advocate Harsh Salve and Pratibha Singh, appearing for Siti Cable contended that the deferment was clearly for extraneous and impermissible reasons as prior to the notification, the information and broadcasting minister, in a public statement, had said CAS would be implemented in the capital only after the assembly election.

The counsel quoted the statement where the minister had said CAS has unfortunately become an unnecessary political issue in Delhi and did not want any consumer friendly initiative to become an issue for "competing politics".