Ban on Asianet News, Media One lifted; press freedom essential: Prakash Javadekar

Asserting the importance of press freedom, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday said two Kerala-based channels which were banned for 48 hours have been restored.

"Two Kerala channels were banned for 48 hours, we immediately found out what actually happened and immediately restored the channels. Our basic thought process is that press freedom is absolutely essential for a democratic setup," Javadekar told reporters here.

The Minister assured that further detailed investigation will be carried out and accordingly necessary steps will be taken.

"And that is the commitment of the Modi government as we fought an Emergency in which press freedom was muzzled. We went to jail to stop the muzzling of the press and we secured press freedom. So, even Prime Minister expressed concern on this issue. I will go into details and take essential steps if there has been any wrongdoing. Also, everybody accepts it has to be responsible for freedom," the Minister added.

This comes after the channels - Asianet News and Media One - were banned for 48 hours on Friday by the Information and Broadcasting (I & B) ministry for alleged communally insensitive coverage of Delhi violence.

Javedakar stated that Asianet News was on air on Friday night whereas Media One was restored on Saturday morning.

The ministry on Friday had suspended the broadcast of the two channels in an order which stated: "While reporting such a critical incident, the channels should have taken utmost care and should have reported it in a balanced way. Such reporting could enhance the communal disharmony across the country when the situation is highly volatile.