Marathi news channel licence suspended again, twice in five months

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Tuesday suspended the licence of Marathi news channel Lokshahi for 30 days. The news channel, which broadcast a story on an explicit video, purportedly of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, had received 72-hour suspension notice from the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry in September 2023. The management had then approached the Delhi High Court against the notice which the court revoked in 24 hours.

A source in the I&B Ministry told this newspaper that the channel’s licence had indeed been suspended by the government for 30 days on the grounds that the operators of the channel were not the same as those in whose name the licence was issued. “It’s not a cancellation but a suspension, and they have 30 days to rectify the deficiency,” the source said.

In a statement issued on Tuesday night, the channel’s management said it will be approaching the court against the suspension and hopeful that it will get justice.

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In a statement issued, the channel management said that it is being aired from January 26, 2020 and it received the clearance only after submitting the necessary papers to authorities. “We had replied to the showcause notice sent on November 17, 2023. On December 14, 2023 we had sought additional time to submit the papers sought. Despite this, the sudden suspension announced on January 9 has shocked us,” it said.

“We will be fighting against this in a legal manner. We are going to approach the court against this sudden suspension. We are hopeful that we will get justice from the court,” said the statement.