SC agrees to hear MediaOne channel’s appeal on March 10

The Supreme Court will hear on Thursday March 10, the appeal filed by Malayalam news channel Media One challenging the Central government’s decision to revoke the broadcasting license of the channel.

The matter was mentioned by Senior Counsel Dushyant Dave before Chief Justice of India NV Ramana who sought urgent listing on the ground that press freedom is at stake.

The news channel approached the Supreme Court on March 2 after a division bench dismissed the plea which upheld the I&B Ministry’s decision of banning the channels citing security reasons. The Kerala HC division bench while dismissing the plea has also stated that national security is of extreme importance for the smooth functioning of the country.

The petition has noted that renewal of licence, governed by clauses nine and 10 of the uplinking and downlinking guidelines, does not require security clearance. Only fresh applicants for licence need the mandatory security clearance. BCS Bureau