Breaking: Division Bench Of Kerala High Court Dismisses Appeal Of MediaOne News Channel

The Division Bench of the Kerala High Court comprising of Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice Shaji P. Chaly has dismissed the appeal filed by the company owning Malayalam news channel MediaOne against the Single Judge's Judgment upholding the restriction on the telecast of the channel.

The Bench said that it has perused the files produced by the Ministry and is convinced of the reasons cited by it.

Besides the channel, appeals were also moved by some of its employees, including its Editor, as well the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) whose pleas against the Centre's decision were also dismissed by the Single Judge on February 8.

Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd, which operates MediaOne, had claimed in its appeal that it has been "victimised" for fair and genuine news reporting.

It had contended that the reason of threat to national security, cited by the Centre to justify the ban, was only a "ruse" and "without any basis". It had also argued that no fresh security clearance was required under the relevant provisions of the uplinking and downlinking guidelines for renewal of license.

"...reliance placed by the learned single Judge on 'Atrisamhitha' also is improper as the issue involved in the matter should have been adjudicated strictly in tune with the Constitutional parameters and not by quoting archaic vedic verses and the both are one to one distinct and propound different dogma altogether", states the appeal.

The Single Judge had held after perusing the filed produced before it by the Home Ministry that the recommendations of the Committee of Officers to the MHA and accepted by the MHA, are justified by supporting materials.

"I have perused the files. It emerges from the files that the MHA had called for inputs from intelligence agencies. The files contained paginated documents, conclusions of the Committee of Officers and other responsible officers of the MHA and the Guidelines for assessment of proposal received in the MHA for National Security Clearances. National Security covers preservation of nations unity, territorial integrity, sovereignty and protection of life and liberty of individuals. The Information and Broadcasting is a sensitive sector", Justice N. Nagaresh had held in the Judgment.

The Division Bench had not granted any interim relief to the channel and it is not being telecasted since the judgment of the single judge on 8th February.