Kerala High Court: Upholds Centre’s Decision To Revoke MediaOne’s License
Kochi, Feb 8: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday upheld the decision of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to revoke the licence of Malayalam news channel MediaOne.
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,” Justice N Nagaresh said in his order.
On January 31, the channel was taken off air following which they approached the High Court. The Central government had submitted that the decision to revoke the channel’s license was based on adequate national security concerns flagged by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The Centre, however, refused to state what the concerns raised by MHA were, and also contended that a party cannot insist on observing natural justice principles in a situation involving national security.
The Kozhikkode-based Channel is operated by Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited under Jamaat-e-Islami Kerala chapter. The channel was licensed in September 2011 and was officially launched on 10 February 2013. owned by Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited.
