Kerala HC upholds Centre's decision to bar telecast of Malayalam news channel MediaOne

Kochi, Feb 7: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday upheld Centre's decision to bar telecast of Malayalam news channel MediaOne.

Justice N. Nagaresh held that after perusing the files from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, it has been found that there are intelligence inputs that justify the denial of security clearance to the channel.

"Going through the files, I find that the Ministry has called for intelligence inputs. Based on the intelligence inputs, the committee of officers has found that security clearance should not be given. The Ministry has decided to accept the finding of the Committee of OFficers. There are inputs justifying the denial of security clearance. Therefore I am dismissing the writ petition", Justice Nagaresh said.

The bench was hearing a plea moved by Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd - which operates MediaOne - its employees and a journalists' union challenging the Centre's decision to bar telecast of the news channel. The central government had barred the telecast of the channel on January 31 citing security clearances.

The Centre, during the arguments on Monday, contended that a security clearance once issued cannot continue forever.

Assistant Solicitor General V Manu also opposed in the court the pleas moved by the trade union and the employees, saying that the issue was between the central government and the company.

He contended that the pleas by the employees and the trade union were not maintainable.

The central government had previously told the court that the Ministry of Home Affairs (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.

It had 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.

The Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), Pramod Raman - editor of MediaOne - and some employees of the channel, represented by senior advocate Jaju Babu, contended before the high court that hundreds of employees of the channel will be deprived of a livelihood if the Centre's decision is not set aside.

The journalists union and the channel's employees have contended that no violation of the permission or any Act or Rules have been alleged and therefore, the action taken by the Centre was "illegal and unconstitutional".

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.

The interim stay was on February 2 extended till February 7.

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".