The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed the petition of Malayalam channel Media One TV challenging the Union Government’s order barring its transmission after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) refused security clearance for renewal of the channel’s licence. The channel subsequently went off air.
The bench of Justice N Nagaresh on Tuesday dismissed the appeal after going through the files submitted by the MHA as the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had issued the ban order following the MHA’s recommendation.
The court observed that there are sufficient grounds for denying permission for renewal of the channel’s licence. In 2020, the channel had faced a 48-hour ban in connection with its reporting of the Delhi riots that year.
“Based on the inputs from various intelligence agencies, the MHA had formed a committee of officers, which found that the security clearance for the channel should not be renewed. The MHA also considered the entire facts and decided to accept the recommendations of the committee of officers. I find that there are inputs which justify the decision of the MHA. Therefore, I propose to dismiss the petition,” the judge said.
Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited, which owns Media One TV, sought that the order be kept in abeyance for a few days to enable the management to move an appeal.
But the judge replied, “I am not inclined as the issue involved national security matters. I have acted on the appeal in an interim order hoping that I would find something to interfere. Now seeing the files (MHA), it would not be proper for me to extend the stay even for one hour. I understand the situation of employees and business. But what is involved is a matter of security,’’ said the judge.
“As far as the Pegasus judgment is concerned, it has been passed in the view of the right to privacy. Whereas the other judgement in Digi Cable Network would sparsely apply to the facts of this case. Therefore, I am dismissing this writ petition (challenging the ban on transmission of Media One TV),” he added.
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Subsequently, the channel went off air and its editor Pramod Raman said they would appeal in the division bench.
As the 10-year permission for Media One TV was to expire on September 29, 2021, the company applied for its renewal for another 10 years in May last year. On December 29, 2021, the MHA denied security clearance to it and on January 5 this year, the ministry served a notice seeking why its application for renewal of permission should not be closed in view of the denial of security clearance.
On January 31, the ministry issued the order barring the channel’s transmission. Hours later, the channel’s management moved the high court which, in an interim directive, deferred the implementation of the ban order. Subsequently, the court directed the MHA to submit the relevant files before it on February 7.
In an affidavit submitted by Assistant Solicitor General of India S Manu, the central government said that “the Ministry of Home Affairs has informed that denial of security clearance to the TV channel based on intelligence inputs, which are sensitive and secret in nature, therefore, as a matter of policy and in the interest of national security, MHA does not disclose reasons for denial”.
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Manu submitted that the court’s interim order, if continued, defeats the purpose of the relevant guidelines and the objective of obtaining security clearance from the MHA. Such requirements are only reasonable restrictions aimed at greater concerns like national security.
The central government said in a situation of national security, a party cannot insist on strict observance of the principles of natural justice. In such cases, it is the duty of the court to read into and provide for statutory exclusion, if not expressly provided in the rules. Depending on the facts of the particular case, it will, however, be open to the court to satisfy itself whether there were justifiable facts, and in that regard, the court is entitled to call for the files and see whether it is a case where the interest of national security is involved, it said.
It said the MHA in an order on January 27, 2016, had denied security clearance to Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited’s proposals for two additional TV channels namely, “Media One Life” and “Media One Global” and appointment of two company directors, Musliyarakath Mehaboob and Rahmathunnissa Abdul Razack. The above denial has not been challenged by the company.
The I&B ministry had granted transmission permission for Media One TV, floated by Madhyamam Broadcasting Company Limited, on September 30, 2011. The 10-year-long permission expired on September 29, 2021.
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Madhyamam Broadcasting Company applied for the two additional channels in 2012. Based on the previous MHA security clearance given to Media One TV, the I&B ministry granted permission for the proposed channels in August 2015. The company, in the meantime, withdrew the application for Mediaone Global.
However, in 2016, the MHA denied clearance for the proposed channels and the appointment of the two directors. Hence, that year the I&B ministry issued a show-cause notice to the company asking to clarify why the transmission permission granted to it should not be revoked. After hearing the firm’s reply and in view of the denial of clearance from the MHA, the permission for Media One Life was cancelled in October 2019.
