Interim relief to MediaOne ban to continue till Centre submits security reasons in Court

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday extended the interim order deferring the cancellation of the permission to telecast Malayalam news channel MediaOne till next Monday.

Justice N. Nagaresh also directed the Union Government to produce before the Court the relevant files of the Ministry of Home Affairs which recommended the cancellation of the license of the channel citing national security reasons.

Vehemently opposing extending the interim order, Assistant Solicitor General of India S Manu told the Court that the channel's license was cancelled due to security reasons, which cannot be revealed to the public. He also submitted that the concerned files could be produced in a sealed cover before the court if the court directs so.

The law officer of the Union Government also argued that the applicant has no right to prior notice when national security issues are involved citing a 2019 Supreme Court decision that upheld the cancellation of Cable TV licenses. He pointed out that as per the relevant guidelines, the security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs is necessary to grant permission for telecast.

Senior Advocate S Sreekumar, appearing for the MediaOne channel, submitted that national security cannot be a reason to cancel the license without prior notice. He referred to the Supreme Court's judgment in the Pegasus case to submit that State can't merely cite national security to withhold information. He also referred to Supreme Court's judgment in the Anuradha Bhasin case to say that the State has to respect press freedom.

The senior counsel sought to distinguish the case cited by the ASG by saying that it was an instance of a fresh application, whereas MediaOne had been in operation for many years.

The ASG opposed the extension of the interim order by saying that it will amount to the grant of the final relief.

Justice Nagaresh said that he wants to peruse the files of the MHA. During the hearing, Justice Nagaresh also asked what was the point is serving a show-cause notice if the reasons for cancellation cannot be revealed.

The developments ensued in a writ petition filed by the television channel, owned by Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited, hours after the Ministry suspended its telecast citing security concerns on Monday afternoon.

The Court had on Monday stayed the operation of the order till the next hearing day, i.e., today.

The Centre had earlier issued permission enabling the petitioner channel to uplink and downlink TV programmes, and this permission was valid till 29.09.2021.