Kerala HC on MediaOne: Security clearance must even for licence renewal

The Kerala High Court upheld the Centre’s decision to bar telecast of Malayalam news channel MediaOne on Tuesday.

Justice N. Nagaresh dismissed the plea of Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd., which operates MediaOne, challenging the Centre’s January 31 decision.

The channel was taken off air on February 2, followed by an order issued by the Union Government based on the Union Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) denial to give security clearance to the channel.

The channel ceased to telecast for a few hours, after its Editor went on air and made the announcement about the ban.

Later, on the same day, the channel approached the High Court that put an interim stay on the order, due to which the telecast was resumed.

Also read: Will fight legally, says Malayalam TV channel MediaOne after Centre’s ban

However, now the court said that the MHA decision to deny security clearance was based on the intelligence inputs received from various agencies.

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

The central government had previously told the court that the 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.

The channel 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.

Disagreeing with the channels contention, the court, in its 42-page judgment, said that according to the downlinking guidelines, even at the time of considering renewal of permission, security clearance was mandatory.

“The contention of the petitioners that the security clearance is a one-time affair and is not required at the time of renewal of licence, therefore, cannot be accepted,” it said.
The court further said that while the freedom of the press was “a valuable and sacred right” under Article 19 the Constitution, it was of the view that such rights have certain exceptions which empower the State to impose reasonable restrictions.

After the order was pronounced, MediaOne editor — Pramod Raman — told media that the channel has stopped its operations and it would be filing an appeal against the single judges decision before a larger bench.

“We will continue the legal battle against the Centre’s decision,” he said. The Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), Raman and some employees of the channel, represented by senior advocate Jaju Babu, had 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.

This was 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 the 2020 communal violence in Delhi, followed by the CAA protests, after they were served with a show cause notice on February 28, 2020. The official orders stated that they covered the violence in a manner that “highlighted the attack on places of worship and siding towards a particular community”.

But, according to the MediaOne management, no security concerns have ever been raised in the past, as claimed in the notice served by the Union Government.

In the notice issued by the Centre, it is mentioned that ‘the security clearance has been denied in the past also’.

In the affidavit submitted in the High Court by the Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd, it is asserted that no such incident has happened in the past.

MediaOne is one of the popular Malayalam news channels in Kerala that started uplinking in 2011.

The channel is owned by Madhyamam Group, which has been running other publications as Madhyamam daily and Madhyamam weekly. In a short span of time, all the publications of Madhyamam Group have established a prominent place in the cultural and political arena of Kerala.

(With inputs from Shahina K.K. in Kochi)