Top court quashes ban on MediaOne

New Delhi, April 5

The criticism of government’s policies cannot be termed “anti-establishment”, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday while quashing the Centre’s telecast ban on Malayalam news channel MediaOne and pulling up the Union Home Ministry for raising national security claims from “thin air” without facts.

Critical views not anti-establishment

National security claims can’t be made out of thin air… Critical views of the channel, MediaOne, on policies of the government cannot be termed anti-establishment. CJI-led Bench

A Bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud set aside the Kerala High Court order which had upheld the Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s refusal to renew the broadcast licence of MediaOne for want of security clearance.

The top court pronounced its judgment on the appeal filed by Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited. The High Court had relied on material which was disclosed solely to the court in a sealed cover by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and said the MHA decision to deny security clearance was based on intelligence inputs received from various agencies.

In the judgment spanning 134-pages, the top court said the Union Government had raised the claim of national security in a “cavalier manner” and the report of the Intelligence Bureau was purely an inference drawn from information that was already in the public domain.

“There is nothing ‘secretive’ about this information to attract the ground of confidentiality. Additionally, it cannot be argued that the purpose of national security will be served by non-disclosure merely by alleging that Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited (channel) is involved with Jamaat-e-Islami Hind which is an organisation with alleged terrorist links.

“We also hold that national security claims cannot be made out of thin air. There must be material backing such an inference,” the Bench said.

The court said critical views of the channel on policies of the government could not be termed “anti-establishment”.

“The use of such a terminology in itself represents an expectation that the press must support the establishment. The action of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting by denying a security clearance to a media channel on the basis of the views which the channel is constitutionally entitled to hold produces a chilling effect on free speech, and in particular on press freedom,” the Bench said.