Anurupa Pal
Published on : March 02, 2022 13:19 IST
Kerala High Court dismissed the appeal moved by Malayalam News Channel Media One against the single judge order upholding the recent ban imposed on it by the Ministry Of Information And Broadcasting on national security grounds .
The Division Bench of Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice Shaji P. Chaly upheld the order passed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting refusing to renew the broadcast licence granted to MediaOne .
“We have perused the confidential files and we are convinced that there is threat to national security”, said the division bench while announcing the verdict .
On January 31,a few hours after the Ministry suspended the channel’s telecast citing security concerns, MediaOne approached the single judge plea .The channel owned by Jamaat-e-Islami went off air on the same day . However upon hearing the preliminary arguments set out by both sides the Judge granted MediaOne an interim relief allowing it to telecast which extended on two occasions .
The Court primarily opinionated that from a bare reading of the provisions it seemed that revocation was a penalty and further decision to be held after discussion with the Ministry Of Information And Broadcasting as this is an issue related to national safety and security.