The Supreme Court of India has agreed to hear the special leave petition filed by Malayalam news channel MediaOne against the single bench order which upheld the Information & Broadcasting Ministry’s decision not to renew the channel’s broadcast license on March 11, 2022.
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.
In the petition filed before the Supreme Court, Mediaone said, “For 11 years we have functioned. We have 350 employees & millions of viewers. We’ve been shut down due to some secret files from the Home Ministry and the court has justified it behind our back. It’s too serious a matter relating to the right to information & freedom of the press.”
