Kerala HC dismisses Media One TV's appeal, upholds ban on channel
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The Kerala High Court on Wednesday dismissed the appeal moved by Malayalam news channel MediaOne against the single judge order upholding the Centre's decision to stop its telecast on national security grounds.
"We have perused the confidential files and we are convinced that there is threat to national security", the division bench said while pronouncing the verdict.
The full judgment is yet to be uploaded.
A bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly also rejected the appeals by some of the channel's employees, including its Editor, as well as the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) against the single judge's order of February 8.
The Centre had banned telecast of the channel on January 31.
In the appeal filed by Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd (the company running the channel), it had been pointed out that under the camouflage of national security, the Ministry prohibited the broadcasting of a news channel that has been in existence for more than a decade.
The Channel raised the grievance that the exact reasons of refusal were not disclosed to it.
During the hearing, Senior Supreme Court Advocate Dushyant Dave appearing for the channel emphasised the freedom of the press and its ambit under Article 19(1) of the Constitution through several decisions.
The single judge had said the denial of security clearance to MediaOne by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) was "justified" based on the inputs received from intelligence agencies.
The single judge had also said that according to the downlinking guidelines, even at the time of considering renewal of permission, security clearance was mandatory.
This was not the first time the channel has faced such a bar on its operation.
MediaOne, along with another Malayalam News channel, Asianet, had been 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".