On January 31, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had banned the Jamaat-e-Islami run propaganda channel Media One with immediate effect. On February 8, the single-judge bench of the Kerala High Court had upheld the ban.
In a significant judgment today (March 2), the Kerala High Court upheld the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami run Malayalam propaganda channel Media One.
The division bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chali upheld the February 8 order of the single-judge bench of Justice N Nagaresh.
In an order issued on January 31, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting had said that the Union Home Ministry has declined to give the security clearance to the channel, which is mandatory for the licence.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs has denied the security clearance to M/S. Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited for renewal of permission for uplinking and downlinking of News & Current Affairs TV channel “Media One”,” the order read.
Media One had moved Kerala High Court against the government order. The court had provided it relief till the hearing concluded in the Kerala High Court.
In his February 8 order, Justice N Nagaresh had said, “I have gone through the files. I find that the ministry has called for report from various intelligence agencies. Based on those inputs, it was found that security clearance should not be renewed. There are inputs which justify the decision. Therefore, I am dismissing the petition.” Media One had challenged the Kerala High Court order of February 8.
The previous licence of the company expired on September 29 last year, and it had applied for renewal on March 3 last year.
After the Ministry of Home Affairs submitted an adverse report, the I&B Ministry had issued a Show Cause Notice (SCN) to Media One, asking why their licence should not be revoked. Finding the reply unsatisfactory, the action was initiated against Media One.
“The permission granted to M/S. Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited to uplink and downlink a News and Current Affairs TV Channel, namely ‘Media One’, is revoked with immediate effect and accordingly the name of this channel is removed from the list of permitted channels,” the ministry order had read.
In February last year, a complaint was lodged with the Delhi police against Media One for ‘exhorting and glorifying violence, including acts of extremist organisations in which they made attempts to destabilise and overthrow the democratically elected Central Government.’
The complainant had pointed out that Media One had actively facilitated the actions of sedition and waging war against the Nation by continuously giving false news and exhorting, encouraging and glorifying it.
