The Supreme Court has quashed the order of the Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry refusing to renew the broadcast licence of the Malayalam news channel, Media One. The apex court was hearing a plea filed by the news channel, challenging the Kerala High Court order that earlier upheld the non-renewal of the licence. A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud was hearing the case on Wednesday, April 5. The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B) refused to renew the licence on January 31, 2022, citing “security reasons”.
The court has ordered the I&B Ministry to issue a renewed licence to the channel within four weeks.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that the Union government not disclosing the reason for withholding the licence violates the principles of natural justice. "Sealed cover procedures have curbed the right to fair and reasonable proceedings leaving appellants in the dark to fight out. The State is using the plea of national security to deny the rights of the citizens. This is incompatible with the rule of law. National security claims cannot be made out of thin air. There must be material facts backing it,” he observed.
No reasonable person will come to the conclusion that the action against MediaOne was in the interest of national security, the CJI said. “Sealed cover procedure cannot be introduced to cover harms that cannot be remedied by public immunity proceedings. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) relied on reports of the channel on issues like CAA, NRC, criticism of judiciary, state, etc., to state that it is anti-establishment. We don't think these are justifiable grounds,” he observed. Adding that the press has a duty to speak truth to power, he added that “the critical views of the channel against the government policies cannot be termed as anti-establishment. This view presumes that the press should always support the government. An independent press is necessary for a robust democracy.”
CJI Chandrachud also added that the unreasonable orders of the I&B Ministry, without disclosing the reasons behind the ban, has infringed the right to fair hearing to Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited. “The non-renewal of a license for a channel is a restriction on the right to freedom of speech and can be imposed only on grounds under Article 19(2),” he said and added that the alleged link made between shareholders of the channel and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind was not a legitimate ground to restrict the rights of the channel, and there was no evidence to prove the link.
The channel, owned by Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited, was taken off air by the Union government and its telecast was banned on security grounds on January 31, 2022. The Supreme Court was hearing a plea by the channel challenging the Kerala High Court’s order that upheld the ban upon the channel. The apex court, on March 15, had stayed the Union government’s order revoking the security clearance for the channel, and sought the Union government to provide reasons for the decision.
The Union government had earlier informed the apex court that the denial of security clearance was based on intelligence inputs, which are "sensitive" and "secret in nature". The reasons for denial were not disclosed by the Ministry of Home Affairs as it was a matter of policy and in the interest of security of the state and its establishments. Following the Union government withholding its licence, MediaOne TV went off air on January 31. The Kerala High Court, on March 2, upheld the single-judge order to ban MediaOne TV. The latter then moved the Supreme Court against the Kerala High Court’s order.