Kerala HC upholds Centre's decision to revoke MediaOne news channel license

The Kerala High Court upheld the Central Government's decision to cancel Malayalam news station MediaOne's broadcasting licence on Wednesday. A division Bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly upheld a single-judge ruling of the High Court in this matter and denied the channel's appeal.

Senior Advocates Dushyant Dave and S Sreekumar appeared for the appellant-channel, who was advised by lawyer Haris Beeran. Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi and Assistant Solicitor General S Manu represented the respondent Union of India.

On February 8, single-judge Justice N Nagaresh supported the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting's (I&B Ministry's) decision to terminate the Malayalam channel's licence. The evidence turned over to the Court in a sealed cover, according to the Court, demonstrated that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had adequate reason to refuse security clearance to the channel, thus justifying the ban.

The appeal against the ruling stated that the Central Government's hurry to withdraw the station's licence suggested that there was some pre-scripted objective driven by ill-will toward the channel.

The channel was pulled off the air on January 31, after which they petitioned the High Court, which agreed to postpone the implementation of the I&B Ministry's ruling for two days, and then until February 7. The channel, which is owned by Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited, was issued a notice by the ministry on January 5, 2022, stating that the government can remove licences in the interest of national security and public order.