Red FM plea not maintainable: Centre to HC

The Centre today told Delhi High Court that the plea of Red FM, an associate company of Kalanithi Maran-promoted Sun TV Group, for security clearance to participate in the stage III of FM auctions is not maintainable as it is seeking judicial review of a policy decision.
The submission was made by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) in an affidavit filed in response to the notice issued to it on the plea of Digital Radio Broadcasting Ltd, which runs Red FM, and has sought permission to participate in the auction or to stay it.
The court, yesterday, while issuing notice to the government had allowed Red FM to participate in the mock auction.

"The present petition to grant security clearance to the petitioner is misconceived and not maintainable as the relief amounts to seeking judicial review of the administrative decision of declining the security permission to the petitioner which is essentially in the domain of policy of the government.
"The scope of the present petition cannot be stretched and this court cannot transgress the limits by sitting on appeal over the action of the government based on the input from intelligence agencies in denying security clearance to the petitioner," the Ministry has said in its affidavit.
The government has also said that its discretion to deny the security clearance is well founded and is in the national interest.

It had also said that in "sensitive areas like control over radio channels have to be necessarily safeguarded and protected from entry of person who are considered to be undesirable and threat to the economic solidarity of the country."

The affidavit also states that MHA has material available with it, on the basis of input received and also on the basis of the information furnished by the company in their application, to deny security clearance to it.
The government has also said that security clearance was declined to Digital Radio on the basis of inputs received against former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, Kalanithi Maran and Sun TV.

Digital Radio's application to participate in the auction was rejected as they were not given security clearance by the Union Home Ministry on the ground that Kalanithi Maran, a shareholder in the radio channel, was facing prosecution in a money laundering case, as per their plea.