MediaOne Channel Ban: Kerala HC reserves orders, No interim stay on single judge's decision

The Kerala High Court on Thursday reserved its orders in the appeal moved by Malayalam news channel MediaOne against the single judge order upholding the recent ban imposed on it by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice Shaji P. Chaly asked the appellants if they preferred an interim order or the final judgment.

Upon being informed that they prefer the final judgment, the Court refrained from granting an interim stay on the single judge decision, reports Live Law.

On January 31, a few hours after the Ministry suspended the channel's telecast citing security concerns, MediaOne had approached the Single Judge with a plea.

However, upon hearing the preliminary arguments set out by both sides, the Judge granted the channel an interim relief allowing it to telecast, which was extended on two occasions till yesterday.

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

In the appeal filed by Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd (the company running the channel), it has been pointed out that under the camouflage of national security, the Ministry has prohibited the broadcasting of a news channel that has been in existence for more than a decade.

The appeal filed through Advocate Rakesh K also says that their crucial argument before the Single Judge was that at the time of renewal of broadcasting license, no fresh security clearance is required as the relevant provisions are Section 10 of the uplinking policy guidelines and Section 9 of the downlinking guidelines.

However, MediaOne has alleged that this aspect was not seriously considered by the Single Judge while passing the impugned judgment.