KOCHI: The high court on Monday deferred for two days the operation of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting's order revoking the licence of Malayalam news channel MediaOne TV.
Justice N Nagaresh ordered for deferring the implementation of the ministry's order of Monday after considering a petition by the channel operator Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd (MBL) urgently during the afternoon session of the court. The court has directed assistant solicitor general (ASG) S Manu to get detailed instructions on the matter by the next hearing.
The court passing an interim order was vehemently opposed by the ASG but the court said broadcasting of the channel should not be disrupted until the case is decided. Centre's decision to revoke the licence is based on adequate reasons and the court should not interfere as the order was issued for security reasons, the court was told. The ASG argued that it was not an essential service.
On behalf of MBL, senior advocate S Sreekumar had argued that only the Ministry of Home Affairs could have issued a show cause notice and not the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. MBL was not given a chance of hearing and it amounts to violation of principles of natural justice, the senior counsel submitted. Revoking the licence also violates the fundamental right of MBL to carry on a trade, business, or profession, the counsel contended.
As per the ministry's order, the permission was revoked with immediate effect on Monday after considering MBL's reply of January 19 to a show cause notice issued on January 5. The order cited the denial of security clearance to MBL by Ministry of Home Affairs.
"...The company has inter-alia mentioned that they are unaware of the grounds for denial of security clearance and requested not to initiate any further proceedings in the matter.... The reply of the company has been examined. The security clearance is based on security parameters of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Since the Ministry of Home Affairs has denied the security clearance, the channel cannot be allowed to operate," I&B ministry's order, signed by Vijay Kaushik, Under Secretary to the government, had said.
Meanwhile, the channel which is linked to the Jamaat-e-Islami, resumed its broadcast around 7.15pm after going off air in the afternoon.
In a statement following the ban on its broadcast, Pramod Raman, the editor of MediaOne said, "The telecast of MediaOne channel has once again been disallowed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, citing security reasons. The Government has not been forthcoming with the details."
This is the second time that the channel has been barred from telecasting. It was briefly suspended in March 2020, along with another channel, for its reportage of the Delhi riots, on grounds that its reportage of the violence was done in a manner that "highlighted the attack on places of worship and siding towards a particular community". Both the channels had replied to the show-cause notices issued and the ban was later lifted.
