Ruling Left, opposition Congress welcome SC resolution staying ban on MediaOne channel

By PTI

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ruling CPI(M) and the opposition Congress in Kerala on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court resolution to remain the directives of the Union Government revoking the licence of Malayalam information channel MediaOne and banning its telecast on safety grounds.

While Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan welcomed the apex courtroom resolution saying it upheld the liberty of speech and expression, Leader of Opposition, V D Satheesan stated the centre’s resolution quantities to denial of pure justice.

Meanwhile, the state BJP unit refused to elaborate on its feedback and stated the regulation will take its due course.

An apex courtroom bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath on Tuesday stayed, until additional orders, the centre’s directive and stated the information and present affairs channel will proceed its operations because it was working previous to the ban of telecast.

“The union government should make public the reasons behind its decision not to allow a media house to function. It became clear, today, that the matters in the sealed cover were not acceptable to the apex court of the country. It’s a matter of joy that the Supreme Court order upheld our country’s principles on freedom of speech and expression,” Vijayan stated at an occasion within the state capital.

Satheesan stated the “contents of the sealed cover should have been made public” because the channel has a proper to know the accusations in opposition to it.

“Freedom of speech and expression are rights of individuals and institutions in the country. The court will examine whether the ban was justifiable. Such matters must not be discussed in a sealed manner. This is a denial of natural justice,” Satheesan stated throughout his speech at an occasion in Thiruvananthapuram.

The high courtroom has requested the Centre to file an in depth counter affidavit by March 26 on the appeals filed by the channel in opposition to the High Court order.

“The union government has already explained why it took such decisions. The law will take its own course,” P Okay Krishnadas, former BJP state president and social gathering’s nationwide Executive Member, instructed the media.

On March 10, the highest courtroom had sought response from the Centre on the channel’s plea of in opposition to the Kerala High Court order upholding the Centre’s resolution to ban its telecast on safety grounds.

The Kerala High Court had upheld the Centre’s resolution to bar telecast of the Malayalam information channel and dismissed the plea of Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd — which operates MediaOne — difficult the central authorities’s January 31 resolution.

The excessive courtroom had stated that the choice of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to disclaim safety clearance was based mostly on intelligence inputs obtained from varied businesses.

The channel had contended that MHA clearance was solely required on the time for contemporary permission/ licence and never on the time of renewal.

It had additionally contended that in keeping with the uplinking and downlinking pointers, safety clearance was solely required on the time of utility for contemporary permission and never on the time of renewal of licence.