New Delhi, March 10 : The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Centre on a plea by Malayalam news channel Media One against the Kerala High Court’s order upholding the Centre’s decision not to renew its telecast licence on grounds of national security. A Bench headed by Justice Dr D.Y. Chandrachud asked the Centre to place internal files put up before the High Court.
The Supreme Court said it would consider on March 15 also a plea for interim relief for allowing the Channel to resume services. Former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, lawyer for Media One channel, told the apex court that there was no case against the channel. “We had an interim order from single judge but the division bench heard it and decided on the same day. Give us interim order and let us start,” the lawyer said. “We issue notice on SLP (Special Leave Petition)… Issue notice and produce all the relevant files,” the court said. Media One knocked the doors of the Supreme Court by filing a SLP challenging the division bench of the Kerala High Court.
MediaOne had moved the Supreme Court after the division bench of the Kerala High Court upheld the ban on MediaOne TV channel dismissing the appeal of the management. On January 31, the Ministry had suspended the channel’s telecast citing security concerns. A single judge of the Kerala High Court granted the channel an interim relief allowing it to telecast till the case was decided. But Justice N. Nagaresh after perusing the files from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, had held that it has found intelligence inputs that justify the denial of security clearance to the channel. The Ministry had produced the files before the Court in a sealed cover. MediaOne then approached a Division Bench, which upheld the ban.
With uni inputs
