Malayalam news channel MediaOne moved the Supreme Court on Wednesday hours after a division bench of the Kerala High Court upheld the government order revoking the licence of the channel.
In a Special Leave Petition, the channel said that it has approached the top court under dire and compelling circumstances. The petition also said that it raises seminal questions of law impinging upon the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression as well as the importance of an independent, free and unbiased press guaranteed by the Constitution.
Earlier a division bench of the Kerala High Court had dismissed the petition filed by the channel, saying certain aspects mentioned in the intelligence reports about the channel had a bearing on public order on national security.
A bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly said the single judge was earlier "right" in declining to interfere with the Centre's January 31 decision to ban telecast of Media One over “security reasons”.
The HC said that in relation to the application for the renewal of the uplinking and downlinking of MediaOne news channel, it found that "there are certain serious adverse reports by the Intelligence Bureau against Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd and its Managing Director".
"It is true that the nature, impact, gravity and depth of the issue is not discernible from the files. But, at the same time, there are clear and significant indications impacting the public order and security of the state.
"Since it is a confidential and sensitive file maintained by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Union of India, we are not expressing anything further in the interest of national security, public order and other aspects concerning the administration of the nation," the bench said.
The court dismissed the appeals by Madhyamam, some of its employees and the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) against the Centre's decision and the single judge's order of February 8.
With PTI inputs
