Extending the interim order deferring a decision by the Union Information and Broadcast (I&B) Ministry, the Kerala High Court permitted the telecast of Malayalam news channel MediaOne till Monday, 7 February.
Further, the court, according to LiveLaw, asked the Union government to produce before it the Ministry of Home Affairs files, which recommended the cancellation of the channel's licence.
Earlier in the day, Assistant Solicitor General of India S Manu had told the court that the Union government had cancelled the channel's licence over security reasons, which could not be made public.
The Centre, in its response, also opposed the grant of any interim relief to the petitioner channel, claiming that it would defeat the purpose of the relevant guidelines and objectives set in place for granting security clearance.
Meanwhile, senior advocate S Sreekumar, representing MediaOne, pointed out before the court that national security could not be a reason for the cancellation of the channel's licence without prior notice.
“Merely on the guise of security they cannot revoke our licence. At least the court should be informed of the exact reasons. So my humble request is that the interim order may be extended,”Senior Advocate S Sreekumar
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry's order from Monday, 31 January, had suspended the broadcast of the Malayalam news channel.
Speaking to The Quint, a source in the channel had earlier said, "Our recent broadcast was nothing out of the ordinary. The I&B has not given any clear reason for asking us to discontinue operations."
This is not the first time that the news channel was directed to stop its broadcast. In 2020, it was forced to suspend its broadcast for its extensive coverage of the Delhi riots.
(With inputs from LiveLaw.)
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