The Supreme Court has quashed the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry’s order refusing to renew the broadcast license of the Malayalam-language news channel MediaOne. The Supreme Court was hearing a plea filed by the news channel challenging the Kerala High Court’s earlier order to uphold the non-renewal of the licence. The bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud heard the case on Wednesday, April 5. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) refused to renew the license on January 31 2022, citing “security reasons”.

The court has ordered the I&B Ministry to issue a renewed license to the channel within four weeks.

CJI DY Chandrachud said the union government violated the principles of natural justice by not disclosing the reasons for withholding licenses. “Sealed procedures limit the right to fair and reasonable litigation and leave appellants fighting in the dark. The state is using national security as an excuse to deny the rights of citizens. This is not in line with the rule of law. National security claims cannot be made in thin air. There must be an important case to back it up facts,” he said.

CJI said no reasonable person would conclude that the actions against MediaOne were in the interest of national security. “Sealing procedures cannot be used to cover damage that the public immunity process cannot repair. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) relies on the channel’s coverage of CAA, NRC, criticism of the judiciary, state, etc., to declare it anti-establishment. We believe these Neither is a valid reason,” he said. The press must speak truth to power, he added: “The channel’s critical views on government policy cannot be called anti-establishment. This view assumes that the media should always support the government. An independent media is essential to a powerful Democracy is necessary.”

CJI Chandrachud also added that the unreasonable order by the I&B Ministry, which did not disclose the reasons behind the ban, violated Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited’s right to a fair hearing. “The non-renewal of the channel license is a restriction on the right to freedom of expression which can only be enforced following Article 19, paragraph 2,” he said, adding that the so-called link between the channel shareholders Jamaat-e-Islami Hind is not a restriction on the channel legitimate grounds for rights. There was no evidence of this link.

Owned by Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited, the Union Government suspended the channel on January 31, 2022, for security reasons, and its television broadcast was also banned. The Supreme Court was hearing the channel against the Kerala High Court upholding the ban on the channel. The Supreme Court on March 15 preserved the union government’s order revoking the channel’s security clearance and asked the union government to provide reasons for the decision.

The Union Government had earlier informed the Supreme Court that the denial of security clearance was based on intelligence inputs which were “sensitive” and “essentially secret”. The Home Ministry did not disclose the reasons for the refusal, as it was a matter of policy and in the interest of national security and its institutions. MediaOne TV went off the air on January 31 after the union government withheld the license. The Kerala High Court on March 2 upheld the single-judge order banning MediaOne TV. The latter objected to the Kerala High Court’s order in the Supreme Court.