SC reserves judgment on Media One's plea challenging Kerala HC's order upholding revocation of news channel's license
Nov 03, 2022
New Delhi [India], November 3 : The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved judgement on Media One's plea challenging the Kerala High Court's order which upheld the order of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting revoking the license of the news channel.
A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud reserved the order after hearing all the parties related to the matter.
The court had earlier stayed the central government's decision banning the Malayalam news channel and allowed it to resume broadcasting.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the petitioner, had told the court earlier that many people are losing their jobs and no media channel will be safe in the country if such practice is allowed.
The Supreme Court was hearing Media One's plea challenging the Kerala High Court's order which upheld the order of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to revoke the license of the news channel.
In the Special Leave Petition preferred by Media One, the channel said that it has filed the petition under dire and compelling circumstances through advocate Pallavi Pratap.
The petition also said that it raises seminal questions of law impinging upon the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression and the importance of an independent, free and unbiased press guaranteed by the Constitution.
The Centre has justified its decision on the ground that the denial of security clearance to the Malayalam news channel Media One is based on intelligence inputs, which are sensitive.
The Kerala High Court on February 8, 2022, upheld the order of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to revoke the license of Media One from the list of permitted news channels citing security reasons.
The High Court dismissed petitions filed by the channel against the government order.
While dismissing the writ petition challenging the order of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Kerala High Court made it clear that principles of natural justice and interference by the court in cases of national security have a minimal role.
