The Kerala high court on Thursday refrained from granting an interim stay on a single bench decision to uphold the Centre’s bar on the broadcast of Malayalam news channel MediaOne and reserved its judgment in the matter for a later date.
The 10-year broadcasting licence of the channel had expired on September 29, 2021, but the company had applied for renewal in May. The union information and broadcasting ministry had suspended broadcast of MediaOne on January 31, two days after the Union home ministry denied the channel security clearance.
But the channel moved the Kerala high court last week, which stayed the decision and asked the Centre to submit all files by Monday. After going through them, the single bench delivered its verdict on Tuesday upholding the Centre’s suspension, which was challenged in a division bench. The channel is off air since the Tuesday order.
When the plea was taken up on Thursday by the division bench of chief justice S Manikumar and justice Shaji P Chaly, additional solicitor general, Aman Lekhi, appearing for the I&B ministry, sought time to produce some documents in a sealed cover, but senior counsel Dushyant Dave, appearing for the channel, opposed it.
Dave emphasised the need to uphold the freedom of the press and its ambit under Article 19 (1) of the Constitution. But the Lekhi opposed it and defended the decision of the single judge. He quoted justice Nagaresh’s observation on Tuesday that after going through the details submitted by the Union government, the court can’t stay the order for even one hour. Lekhi said the channel’s telecast was barred over serious national security concerns.
But Dave contended that under the camouflage of national security, the ministry abruptly banned the broadcasting of a channel which has been on the air for more than a decade. He also asked why the channel was allowed to function for so many years if it posed such a threat.
The division bench deferred the verdict to another day; the exact date was not given.
Besides the Madhyamam Broadcasting Corporation, the entity that runs the channel, its editor Pramod Raman and the Kerala Union of Working Journalists have also filed pleas questioning the bar on the channel.
