Suffocating under a Bt97.76 billion penalty judgement from the Supreme Administrative Court, iTV said yesterday it would seek arbitration to reduce the fine, as allowed by its concession.

PM's Office Minister Khunying Dhipavadee Meksawan, who oversees the Permanent Secretary's Office, which granted iTV its concession, said the court order was regarded as final and no other mediation was needed to rule on the amount of the fine.

Jullayuth Hiranyawasit, permanent secretary of the PM's Office, said iTV's concession could be revoked immediately if the fine was not received in full by the 45-day deadline. The Attorney-General's Office would then be responsible for making iTV pay up through civil lawsuits.

iTV CEO Niwatthamrong Bunsongphaisal submitted a statement to the PM's Office claiming iTV had never violated the concession and referring to a clause in the 30-year contract that allows either party to submit any unresolved conflict or legal dispute to arbitration.

"iTV will exercise its right under such a condition, as stated in Article 15, by seeking advice and assistance on the issue from the Justice Ministry's Thai Arbitration Institute," the statement said.

Jullayuth said the Attorney-General's Office could appoint an arbitration panel to reconsider the fine, but only with the consent of the PM's Office.

"The responsibility of the PM's Office in dealing with the issue is now over. What it can do now is to hand the task over to the Attorney-General's Office to take the matter to court," he added.

iTV staff issued their own statement calling on the government and the PM's Office to reconsider its stance.

The request from the PM's Office for iTV to comply unconditionally with the ruling has shown its "apparent intent to shut all doors leading to the way out of the problem", the statement said.

iTV staff also called for a public hearing where concerned members of society and civil groups would be invited to discuss the issue.

"The overly inflated amount of the fine is an unfair treatment imposed on iTV - such a fine of an unprecedented scale has never before come into existence in the entire state concession sector. The PM's Office's order has adversely affected career security and the professionalism of 1,070 iTV staff," the statement said.

Phutthisat Namdej, a senior official with the PM's Office, said the Bt97.76 billion fine was not outlandish. The fine has been accumulating daily over the past three years since iTV breached the concession terms by adjusting its programming ratio between news/documentaries and entertainment to 70:30 to 65:35 without the PM's Office's approval.

He said the PM's Office was at risk of being sued by other companies that bid for the iTV concession 11 years ago if it agreed with iTV management to trim the fine.

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said it was not yet certain whether the iTV matter could be considered by the Cabinet at its next meeting on Tuesday. iTV and the PM's Office should talk the matter out between themselves before resorting to litigation, he said, adding that iTV would jump the gun by directly talking with him and bypassing the PM's Office.

Asked if the government could be accused of striking a secret deal with iTV if it decided to give some lenient conditions to the broadcaster, Surayud said the government stood squarely on the path of justice.

"The best thing is that everything can be agreed on, at a level of appropriateness," he added, without explaining.