A democratic republic cannot function without an independent media according to the court.
According to Live Legal, the Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the Centre’s telecast restriction on Malayalam news station MediaOne. The court ordered the government to renew the broadcast licence for the news channel within four weeks.
A bench constituting of Justice Hima Kohli and Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud ruled that the government was depriving citizens of their legal rights by utilising national security as a tactic. On January 31, MediaOne TV stopped broadcasting after the Centre halted it for “security reasons.” The High Court stated that it had reviewed the case’s sensitive files and was convinced that there was harm to national security in upholding the Centre’s decision in March of last year.
Then, the station went to the Supreme Court, which ordered the Center to reveal the documents upon which it had refused to renew the news channel’s licence. The Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction allowing the channel to continue broadcasting after reviewing the documents. It claimed that “the state is denying citizens remedies that are provided by law by using national security as a tool.” The rule of law is incompatible with this.
The Center cited the channel’s coverage of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Registry of Citizens to support its argument that it was anti-establishment. Nonetheless, the court ruled that they could not be justifications for refusing to renew its broadcast licence.
According to the court, a democratic republic cannot function without an independent media.
It stated that the press had a responsibility to proclaim the truth and give the public hard information so they could make decisions that would advance democracy. “Democracy would be seriously endangered by a homogenised viewpoint on topics ranging from socioeconomic polity to political ideology.” The court further ruled that it was false to claim that MediaOne was affiliated with the Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. The organization’s non-ban status was also mentioned.
The Malayalam news station Media One had been denied security clearance by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) due to claimed ties to the Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind, but the Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the MHA’s decision. Since JEIH is not an organisation that is banned, it would be uncertain for the state to claim that any link with the organisation would hamper the sovereignty and integrity of the nation or any other claims, said the Supreme Court in response to the MHA’s denial of security clearance.
What happened to MediaOne?
MediaOne TV has suffered a serious setback after the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting [MIB] once again outlawed the well-liked Malayalam news channel for “security grounds.” A single judge court led by Justice N. In response to the channel’s request, Nagaresh issued an interim stay of the Union Government’s decision on Monday, and today that stay was extended till February 7.
One of the few Indian news networks whose ownership is held by an Islamic group is MediaOne TV, a channel of Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited, which is controlled by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. The Ministry sent a letter to the station on Monday prohibiting its airing due to security reasons. Once the channel filed the petition, the Kerala High Court quickly stayed the order. The court granted MediaOneTV an interim order and stated that it should not be directed to stop the transmission until the issue was resolved.
On January 5, the petitioner received a notice to show cause as to why the Center should not cancel its licence while prioritising public order, national security, and integrity. The channel’s parent business had asked the government to delay issuing the warning until it had spoken with the corporation. The business further asserted that it was never provided justification for being denied approval because it violated national security.
However, the Ministry is said to have revoked the channel’s authorization and removed it from the list of authorised channels. From 12 p.m. until 7 p.m. on January 31, the channel was not broadcast. According to Indian Express, the channel had submitted an application for the renewal of its licence, which was set to expire in September 2021. The channel was denied a security clearance, according to the same report, when the renewal of its licence was being evaluated.
The channel has had difficulties on numerous occasions. For breaking the terms of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1998 in March 2020 with a report on riots in Delhi, it has previously been prohibited from airing for 48 hours. The ban had caused outrage among the audience and Twitter users, who tried to protest the decision by tweeting with the hashtag #StandWithMediaOne.
The Marxist Communist Party of India also denounced the Center’s move. The CPI(M) State Secretariat claimed in a statement that the ban was intended to limit the editorial freedom of media organisations. Diverse viewpoints, according to Kerala’s chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, were essential components of democracy. He continued by saying that it didn’t appear like the news channel’s operations were suspended for any reason.
