Journalists union, MediaOne employees move HC against order banning channel

A trade union of working journalists, the editor of MediaOne and some of its employees have moved the Kerala High Court against the central government's recent decision to bar the Malayalam news channel's telecast.

The Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), Pramod Raman -- editor of MediaOne -- and some employees of the channel moved two separate pleas in the high court against the Centre's January 31 decision.

The high court, on February 3, listed both petitions on February 7 along with the plea moved earlier by Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd -- which operates MediaOne -- against the bar on the channel's telecast.

The high court, on February 2, had put on hold till February 7 the Centre's decision and also called for the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) files relating to denial of security clearance to the news channel.

KUWJ and the MediaOne journalists, represented by senior advocate Jaju Babu, have contended before the high court that hundreds of employees of the channel will be deprived of a livelihood if the Centre's decision is not set aside.

Babu had told the court, on February 3, that the decision to bar the channel was taken without hearing it or its employees.

The journalists' union and the channel's employees have contended that no violation of the permission or any Act or rules have been alleged and therefore, the action taken by the Centre was "illegal and unconstitutional".

During the hearing on February 2, on the plea moved by Madhyamam, the Centre had told the high court that MHA denied security clearance to MediaOne over national security concerns based on intelligence inputs.

The Centre had also said it was not required to disclose the reasons for denial of security clearance when there were national security concerns.

It had also told the court that where national security was concerned broadcast permissions can be revoked/cancelled without giving any notice or reasons.

The channel, on the other hand, had contended that MHA clearance was only required when applying for fresh permission/license and not at the time of renewal.