MUNICIPALITY AGAINST GALA TV COMPANY FOUNDER "CHAP" COMPANY CASE STARTS IN GYUMRI
Noyan Tapan
Dec 13, 2007
GYUMRI, DECEMBER 13, NOYAN TAPAN. It is already the second day in the
Gyumri residence of the Economic Court of the Republic of Armenia the
hearing of the case filed against the "ChAP" Limited Liability Company,
the founder of the "GALA" TV Company of Gyumri, according to the claim
of the municipality of Gyumri, with which the latter demands to free
the TV tower belonging to the city from the broadcasting equipments
of the "GALA" TV Company, has been continuing.
Before the case was filed to court the Mayor of Gyumri, in response
to the call of Levon Barseghian, the Chairman of the Board of the
"Asparez" Journalists’ Club of Gyumri, for settling the problem
through negotiations instead of turning to court, said that the
municipality is ready to conduct lease negotiations with the given
LLC on condition that the TV company will pay for using the tower
for the past 2.5 years as well. Vahan Khachatrian, the Head of the
TV company, regarded this suggestion as inadmissible, claming that if
the municipality registered the property right of the TV tower in the
land-survey only on November 5, 2007 and did not manage the TV tower
during the period predecing it, if it did not have a lease contract
with the TV company and had not informed it in any way about the fact
the TV tower belongs to the municipality with the property right,
the claim of the municipality, according to which the TV company is
to make a payment for the past 2.5 years, is groundless.
On the very first day of the lawsuit lawyer Karen Tumanian, a
member of the RA Chamber of Advocates and the representative of
the respondent side, introduced a draft conciliation agreement to
the court and offered to allow to conduct negotiations around the
conciliation conditions. According to the draft conciliation agreement,
the respondent side proposed to give on lease the TV tower to the
"ChAP" LLC for the forthcoming six months on condition that they will
continue the contract in future. The representative of the plaitiff
refused the conciliation suggestion. The court made a decision to
also refute the counterclaim of the respondent side.
Karen Tumanian, the representative of the respondent side, came
up with a new petition and objected to the candidature of the
judge. The rejection was introduced to the judge in the written
form. The court closed the court session until the next day after
receiving the rejection. On December 11 judge Ed. Nahapetian declared
that the rejection has been dismissed in the higher instance and the
court will continue to hear the case with the same staff. Respondent
side representative Karen Tumanian made a petition, with which he
introduced the fact that he has protested against the decision of
judge Ed. Nahapetian on not taking the counterclaim presented by him
on the previous day into examination in the Court of Appeal, asking
to eliminate the decision of the judge on not taking the counterclaim
of the respondent side into examination. The respondent side made
a petition to break off the lawsuit until he receives the answer of
his appeal. The judge declared that his petition is dismissed.
Respondent side representative Karen Tumanian made a new petition
and made a rejection to the judge for the second time. The rejection,
in particular, runs as follows: "This argument is not so much of legal
character as it has been made political and personal. The founders and
the management of the "ChAP" Limited Liability Company does not have
confidence towards the impartiality of Ed. Nahapetian, the judge of
the Gyumri residence. In the given case the close relations between
Vardan Ghukasian, the Mayor of Gyumri, and the presiding judge give
rise to doubt with regard to the impartiality of the judge."
The court closed the court session until December 13 after the second
rejection made to itself.