MediaOne appeals against Kerala High Court order upholding ban on channel; submits 'national security' a ruse to cancel license

Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited, the parent company of the recently banned MediaOne news channel, has filed an appeal before a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court challenging a recent order of the single-judge upholding the ban imposed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B Ministry) on the channel..On January 31, the MediaOne channel was taken off air following which they approached the High Court, which decided to defer the operation of the Ministry's order.However, on February 8, single-judge Justice N Nagaresh upheld the decision of the I&B Ministry to revoke the Malayalam channel's licence. The Court opined that the material handed over to the Court in a sealed cover indicated that the Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) had sufficient cause to deny security clearance to the channel, thereby justifying the ban.The Centre had refused to state what the concerns raised by MHA were, and contended that a party cannot insist on observing natural justice principles in a situation involving national security..The appeal against said order alleged that the Central government's haste to cancel the licence of the channel indicated that there was some pre-scripted agenda motivated by some ill-will."Being a news channel, it may not be possible to appease the state every time and it is (the) strong feeling of the appellant that it is victimised for its fair and genuine news reporting," the appeal stated..It is also stated that the government in the past used to be tolerant to fair criticism but it has now choked free speech and free press."Yesteryears, the government was tolerant to fair criticism, but the recent trend is alarming as it chokes the freedom of press and right to speech. Herein after no news channel will dare to broadcast any programme against the sweet will of the government as it may not be inconvenient for the government to forbid the channel by managing Intelligence reports and other materials," the plea said..It further contended that judicial approval of the illegal act of the government would injure the constitution and it also would stifle the dogma of fundamental rights, which will, after this, be a qualified right that could be easily curtailed at the whims of the government.Moreover, the plea stated that the reliance placed by the single-judge on the intelligence report which was submitted in a sealed cover without affording an opportunity of hearing to the appellant is unconstitutional..The single-judge had relied on the decisions in Ex-Armymen’s Protection Services Pvt. Ltd. vs. Union of India & Others, Digi Cable Network (India) Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Union of India & Others , Manoharlal Sharma Vs. Union of India and Anuradha Bhasim & Another Vs. Union of India & Others..The appeal filed through advocate Rakesh K pointed out that the 3-judge bench judgement of the Supreme Court in Manoharlal Sharma held that the scope of judicial review in matters pertaining to national security is limited. However, the same does not mean that the State gets a free pass every time the spectre of national security is raised. Therefore, the findings of the single-judge that the dictums in Digi Cable Network and Ex-Armymen have application in the instant case are incorrect, the petitioner contended.The single-judge had in his judgement mentioned the Atri Samhita, an ancient Indian text, which described the contours of sovereign functions. This has also been assailed in the appeal as according to the appellant, the matter should have been adjudicated solely within the contours of the Constitution of India. .The order revoking the channel's licenceis violative of Article 19(1) and 14 of the Constitution of India and unless there is adequate warranting circumstances viz. threat to the national security, the license ought not to have been cancelled,the plea said."In the instant case, the threat to national security is raised as a ruse to cancel the license of the appellant, which does not have any basis at all," the appeal said..The appeal was mentioned before Division Bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly earlier today and the matter is likely to be heard tomorrow. Senior Advocates Dushyant Dave and S Sreekumar briefed by advocate Haris Beeran will appear for the appellant-channel.