Kerala High Court defers operation of I&B Ministry order revoking MediaOne news channel licence

The Kerala High Court on Monday stayed the order of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (ministry) which had revoked the licence of the MediaOne channel [Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited v Union of India & Ors.]..Justice N Nagaresh admitted the matter and decided to defer the operation of the Ministry's order for two days and stated that there must be no interruption to the broadcasting of the channel..MediaOne, a popular news channel in Kerala, went off air earlier today, January 31. In statements on social media, the channel and its editor Pramod Raman said that the ministry revoked the channel’s license, citing security concerns.The channel which is owned by Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited was issued a notice by the ministry on January 5, 2022 in which it was stated that in consideration of national security and public order, the government can revoke licences. It also asked them to show cause as to why their licence should not be revoked as the company had not received security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs. They subsequently sent a response stating that they are not involved in any sort of anti-national activities and that a huge amount of investment has been made to run the channel. However, the ministry, by a "very cryptic order" revoked the permission granted to the channel, the plea said. .Senior Advocate S Sreekumar appearing for MediaOne, submitted that initially the ministry had said that MediaOne's license had been revoked previously on security grounds and the same decision was made by default in the present case as well. However, when it was pointed out that MediaOne had never been denied security clearance, the ministry changed its stance and gave other reasons for its decision. This discrepancy itself makes the order questionable, Sreekumar contended. It was further argued that the petitioner company was never afforded a chance of hearing before the Ministry issued the order which violates the principles of natural justice. Moreover, the order of the ministry also violates the petitioner's rights under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution, the plea said..On these, among other grounds, the company sought the following reliefs from the Court. - Call for records leading up to the order revoking its licence and set aside the same;- Direct the respondents to afford opportunity of hearing to the petitioner before passing any orders of revoking licence;- Declare that there are no warranting circumstances either to decline security clearance or to revoke the licenses the petitioner has not contravened any law or committed any anti-national activity..The matter will be taken up next on Wednesday.