Mitali Palnitkar
Published On: February 09, 2022 at 17:19 IST
An Appeal was filed before the Division Bench of Kerala High Court by Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited, the parent company of the banned Malayalam news channel ‘MediaOne’. The Appeal was filed to challenge the recent Order of the Single-Judge which upheld the Ban imposed on the channel by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B Ministry).
The Division Bench comprised of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly. The Appeal was filed through Advocate Rakesh K.
On January 31, 2022, MediaOne was taken off air, after which the channel approached the High Court which decided to defer the operation of the Order of the Ministry. But, on February 8, the Single-Judge Justice N Nagaresh upheld the Ministry’s decision of revoking the license of the channel.
The Court was of the view that the material provided to the Court in a sealed cover indicated that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had a reason to deny security clearance to the channel and thus, the Ban was justified.
The Centre refused to state the concerns raised by MHA. It contended that in a situation involving national security, a party cannot insist to observe the principles of natural justice.
The Appeal stated, “Being a news channel, it may not be possible to appease the State every time and it is the strong feeling of the Appellant that it is victimized for its fair and genuine news reporting.” It also contended that the Government was tolerant about fair criticism in the past but it started choking free speech and free press now.
The Appeal further contended that the Judicial Approval of the Government’s illegal act would injure the Constitution and the Fundamental Rights enshrined in it. Also, the Single-Judge’s reliance on the report submitted in a sealed cover without hearing the Appellant was unconstitutional.
The Appeal pointed out the Supreme Court Judgment in Case of Manoharlal Sharma wherein it was held that the scope of Judicial Review in matters related to national security is limited. The Appellant contended that the dictums in the Cases of Digi Cable Network and Ex-Armymen applied by the Single-Judge in the Case were incorrect.
It was stated that revoking the channel’s license was violative of Articles 19(1) and 14 of the Constitution. It also state, “In the instant Case, the threat to national security is raised as a ruse to cancel the license of the Appellant, which does not have any basis at all.”
The matter is likely to be heard on February 10, 2022. The Appellant will be represented by Senior Advocates Dushyant Dave and S Sreekumar.