Kerala HC upholds I&B Ministry order to revoke MediaOne news channel license

Justice N Nagaresh said he had “gone through the files” of the ministry of home affairs which had “called for various intelligence agencies” to justify the denial of security clearance to MediaOne. 

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday upheld the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B) order revoking Malayalam news channel MediaOne’s licence to broadcast.

Justice N Nagaresh said he had “gone through the files” of the Ministry of Home Affairs which had “called for various intelligence agencies” to justify the denial of security clearance to MediaOne.

“I have gone through the files. I find that the ministry has called for report from various intelligence agencies. Based on those inputs, it was found that security clearance should not be renewed. There are inputs which justify the decision. Therefore I am dismissing the petition,” the Court held as per the Bar and Bench report.

Last week, the Kerala High Court had directed the Centre to make available the files relating to the revocation of the broadcasting licence of MediaOne TV channel by February 7.

Justice N Nagaresh issued the order on the petition filed by the Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited, Kozhikode which owns the channel seeking to quash the order. The court also dismissed the petitions filed by employees of the channel and Kerala Union of Working Journalists.

The Judges observed that they have gone through the files of the Ministry of Home Affairs. "The MHA has called for various intelligence agencies. Based on the inputs from these agencies, it has been decided not to renew the security clearance. Hence, I am dismissing these petitions," the court said.

The petitioner was reportedly issued with a show-cause notice by the Centre on January 5, 2022, on why the Centre should not revoke its license in consideration of national security and public order. In response to this notice, the company had requested not to proceed with the notice without affording an opportunity of hearing and that they were not informed of the reasons why the security clearance was denied.

MediaOne, a Malayalam news channel, had announced on January 31 that it had gone off the air after the ministry cited “security reasons” to block its transmission.

“The central government is unwilling to share the details of that,” the channel’s editor, Pramod Raman, said in a statement. The channel then filed a writ petition before the High Court, seeking that the Ministry’s order be set aside.