Live Cricket Telecast Fees Are Not Royalty: Delhi High Court Dismisses Tax Appeal Against Sri Lanka Cricket

The Revenue filed an appeal under Section 260A challenging the ITAT’s order holding that payments made to Sri Lanka Cricket for live telecast of cricket matches were not taxable in India as “royalty”. The Department argued that the consideration paid for live feed amounted to royalty under Section 9(1)(vi) of the Income Tax Act.

Sri Lanka Cricket contended that the issue was squarely covered by earlier Delhi High Court judgments in CIT v. Delhi Race Club (1940) Ltd. and CIT v. Fox Network Group Singapore Pte. Ltd., where it was held that live telecasts do not constitute transfer of copyright or any similar right.

Issue Before Court: Whether consideration paid for live telecast of cricket matches constitutes “royalty” under Section 9(1)(vi) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

HC’s Judgment: The Hon’ble High Court dismissed the Revenue’s appeal, holding that payments made for live telecasts of cricket matches cannot be treated as royalty. The Court reiterated that a live telecast does not qualify as a “work” under the Copyright Act and therefore does not involve transfer of copyright.

The Court further held that royalty presupposes enduring rights or continuing benefits, such as the right to record, preserve, or re-telecast content, which were absent in the present case. Since the rights were confined only to live feed for specific matches within a limited period, the consideration paid could not be characterised as royalty. The Court held that no substantial question of law arose.

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