"What's Your Objection?": Kerala High Court Extends Stay On Centre's Ban On Channel

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday extended till February 7 its interim order putting on hold the implementation of the Centre's bar on Malayalam news channel MediaOne's telecast.

While extending the interim order, the high court also called for the MHA files in relation to the denial of security clearance to the news channel.

The files were called for by Justice N Nagaresh after the central government told the court that MHA denied security clearance to MediaOne over national security concerns based on intelligence inputs.

The channel, on the other hand, contended that MHA clearance was only required at the time for fresh permission/license and not at the time of renewal.

Therefore, the procedure adopted by the Centre for barring telecast of the channel was illegal, Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd -- which operates MediaOne -- told the court.

During the hearing, when the court asked what were the reasons for the denial of security clearance by MHA, the Centre said it was not bound to disclose the same to the media group when national security concerns were there.

"Why was security clearance denied? What is your (Centre) objection? Any issue with any of the directors or the news broadcast by them?" the court asked.

The Centre, in reply, said the court can peruse the information placed before it in the sealed cover and can also call for the relevant files, if required, but the same cannot be disclosed publicly.

It further said it was not required to provide reasons for denial of security clearance as per a Supreme Court judgement which, according to the Centre, stated that where national security was concerned broadcast permissions can be revoked/cancelled without giving any notice or reasons.

The Centre said that after denial of security clearance by MHA, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) had issued a show cause notice to the channel.

"What is the point of show cause notice if you will not give the reasons (for denial of security clearance)?" the court asked, to which the Centre's lawyer replied it was not bound to give reasons as per the Supreme Court judgement.

The Centre also contended that MIB followed all the procedures laid down in the requisite guidelines and further said permission to broadcast of the channel had expired on September 29, 2021.

The contentions of the Centre were opposed by the channel whose lawyers contended that the guidelines were being interpreted incorrectly by the central government.

MediaOne's lawyers, referring to the SC orders in the Pegasus case, said that mere saying of national security cannot be a reason for denial of permission.

They also contended that, according to the uplinking and downlinking guidelines, security clearance was only required at the time of application for fresh permission and not at the time of renewal of licence.

Therefore, the procedure adopted by MIB and MHA in the instant case was illegal, they claimed.

They (Centre) need to explain, at least to this court, how the security of the nation was at threat or is breached by the telecast of the channel, MediaOne's lawyers argued.

The Centre had barred telecast of the channel on January 31 and within hours of the same, the channel challenged it in the high court which put the order on hold for two days.

In its plea, the channel had contended that it was not involved in any anti-national activity warranting such a bar on its operations.

This is not the first time the channel has faced such a bar on its operation.

MediaOne, along with another Malayalam News channel, Asianet, was briefly suspended for 48 hours over their coverage of communal violence in Delhi in 2020, with the official orders saying they covered the violence in a manner that "highlighted the attack on places of worship and siding towards a particular community".