Team News Riveting
New Delhi, April 5
The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the Central government’s refusal to renew broadcasting license of Malayalam news channel MediaOne citing national security concerns.
A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli turned down the argument that certain broadcasts by the channel affected national security. “Some of the reports cited by IB are that minorities favoring reports were telecast, there was critique of UAPA, NRC, CAA and criticism of judiciary and executive… such reports are just inference of what is available in the public domain. There was nothing to show terrorist links,” the Court said.
“We hold national security claims cannot be made on the basis of thin air. It is seen that none of the material is against national security or threatens public order,” the judgment said.
Pertinently, the Court refused to accept the stance of the Central government that it can only reveal reasons for the ban in sealed cover. The government had disclosed reasons for the ban to the Kerala High Court in a sealed cover the and channel was not made privy to those reasons.
The Supreme Court made it clear that such a procedure adopted by the government in disclosing reasons for the ban only to the Court and in a sealed cover has affected the rights of the petitioner-channel.
The Court also turned down the argument that MediaOne was linked to Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JEIH). It also noted that JEIH is not a banned organisation.
The channel had moved top court challenging a Kerala High Court Division Bench judgment which had upheld the Central government’s revocation of security clearance for the channel’s license. On January 31, 2022, MediaOne channel was taken off air following which it approached the High Court, which decided to defer the operation of the Ministry’s order.
However, on February 8, single-judge Justice Nagaresh upheld the decision of the I&B Ministry to revoke the Malayalam channel’s licence. The Court opined that the material handed over to the Court in a sealed cover indicated that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had sufficient cause to deny security clearance to the channel, thereby justifying the ban.
