[BREAKING] Supreme Court allows MediaOne news channel to resume broadcast, stays Central govt. ban

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted interim relief to Malayalam news channel, MediaOne staying the Central government decision to revoke the channel's security clearance [Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd. v Union of India]..A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath ordered that the channel can resume operations in the same manner in which it was being operated before revocation of security clerance."We order and direct that Union Govt order revoking security clearance to Madhyaman Broadcasting Ltd stands stayed. Petitioner be allowed to run MediaOne on the same basis channel was being operated before security clearance was revoked," the Court said.The Court also directed the Central government to file its counter affidavit in the matter.On the issue of whether the files containing adverse intelligence inputs can be disclosed to the channel or not, the Court said that it will keep the issue open for final disposal..Senior Counsel Dushyant Dave, appearing for the channel, said that the channel had functioned for 11 years. "My license was for 10 years. 2 months after my actual period expired, they allowed me to continue. They granted me downlinking in 2019 for a period of 5 years,"he submitted.He further contended that security clearance is not needed for renewal of licenses. "No media, publication or channel will be saved if this is accepted. everybody can be shut down tomorrow," Dave said.Dave also pointed out how the government had not produced relevant files which were claimed to contain adverse inputs against the channel"How can a democratically elected government deny to produce records and deny freedom of speech and expression. this is completely covered by a judgment of this court. This channel is being shut down just because it is owned by minority individuals," he said..Additional Solicitor General (ASG) KM Nataraj appearing for the Central government said that after the channel was taken off the air following the single-judge decision of Kerala High Court, it appeared as a YouTube channel and engaged in personal attacks against the judge."They have carried on a YouTube channel which criticized the single bench judge. Institution is itself under danger under this petitioner," he said.The Court, however, said that anybody is free to criticise court verdicts."Let us have some light and not heat. There is complete freedom to criticize the judgment of courts," said Justice Chandrachud."It is against the personal conduct of judges and browbeating the judges," the ASG maintained.Dave said that while he condemns it, the channel has nothing to with it."I condemn it though We have nothing to do about it," he said."YouTube portal is by same media," the ASG said."For that you cannot shut us down," said Dave"You cannot browbeat judges," the ASG maintained.The Court after a lengthy discussion decided to grant interim relief..The appeal by MediaOne has challenged Kerala High Court Division Bench judgment which had upheld the Central government's ban.A Division Bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly had upheld a single-judge decision which had rejected the channel's plea against government decision to revoke its license.On February 8, single-judge Justice N Nagaresh had upheld the decision of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (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 appeal against said order before the Division Bench 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 against the channel..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.The Central government had told the High Court that the decision to revoke the licence was based on credible national security concerns.However, they 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 Centre also submitted a sealed cover some information regarding the reasons which contributed to the decision to deny security clearance.The High Court had accepted the same to uphold the ban.This is not the first time a channel has faced such a ban. In 2020, MediaOne along with another Malayalam channel, Asianet, were suspended for 48 hours over their coverage of the Delhi Riots, with official orders saying the channels had covered it in a manner which "highlighted the attack on places of worship and siding towards a particular community"Recently, another media services company, MediaGuru, moved the Delhi High Court challenging the show-cause served on it by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.