Kerala HC reserves its orders in the appeal moved by MediaOne

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.

Ernakulam (Kerala): The Division Bench of Kerala High Court on Thursday reserved its order in an appeal filed by Malayalam news channel 'Media One' against the High Court's Single Bench order which upheld the order of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to revoke the license of the channel from the list of permitted news channels citing security reasons. After the appellant informed the Court that they prefer final judgement than the interim order, the Division Bench decided to reserve its order and not to give any interim stay. The bench comprises Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly considered the matter. Dushyant Dave, senior advocate appeared on behalf of the channel while Additional Solicitor General of India Aman Lekhi represented the Central government.

Earlier, the Single Bench of Justice N Nagaresh dismissed petitions filed by the employees of the news channel against the government order. In the appeal, the Malayalam news channel said, "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 order revoking its license is not preceded by any communication, which alleges threat of national security, and hence it is without any genuine cause. Such a move has put the lives of 350 employees of the channel in turmoil."

"It is the anguish of the appellant that the Central Government was rather in a haste to cancel the license as if there was some pre-scripted agenda motivated by some ill-will. It is added that being a news channel, it may not be possible to appease the state every time and it is a strong feeling of the appellant that it is victimised for its fair and genuine news reporting. Yesteryears the government was tolerant to fair criticism, but the recent trend is alarming as it chokes the freedom of the press and right to speech," Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited, a parental company of 'Media One' said.

"Hereinafter no news channel will dare to broadcast any program against the sweet will of the government as it may not be inconvenient for the government to forbid the channel by managing Intelligence reports and other materials. It is in this context relevant to note that the reliability of the referred to intelligence report is also suspected and the so-called consideration by the committee, without even affording any opportunity of hearing to the appellant is unconstitutional. The reliance placed by the single Judge on 'Atrisamhitha' is improper as the issue involved should have been adjudicated strictly in tune with the Constitutional parameters; not by quoting archaic Vedic verses," the channel further said.

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. The channel owned by Jamaat-e-Islami went off the air on the same day.