Mumbai, Aug. 23: Bombay High Court has allowed U- and U/A-rated films to be shown on cable TV and banned airing of A-rated films.

A division bench held that foreign channels downlinked in India must comply with the court’s December 2005 order directing cable TV operators not to show A-rated films. Broadcasters and direct-to-home operators would also have to abide by the rules, it added.

“We are happy with the verdict. Now, we have clear-cut regulations. I am yet to see the hard copy of the verdict but now we have a list of channels that have been blacklisted,” said Ganesh Naidu, the president of the Cable Operators’ and Distributors’ Association.

Cable TV broadcast has resumed in Mumbai, but Zee Cinema, STAR Movies, HBO, Filmi, STAR Gold, AXN, Max, STAR One and Sahara One, whose decoders were seized on Monday, will be off air “till their decoders are released. The whole process will take 10-odd days,” said M.M. Vashi, the lawyer for Pratibha Naithani, who had filed a PIL against obscenity on TV.

A compromise was reached late last evening after the Cable Operators’ and Distributors’ Association, which represents local cable operators, as well as representatives of the various multi-system operators met Maharashtra home minister R.R. Patil.