KOCHI: A division bench of the high court on Thursday finished hearing the appeal filed by Malayalam news channel MediaOne TV against a single bench's judgment upholding the Union government's decision to revoke its licence.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly reserved the case for pronouncing its verdict after hearing at length Supreme Court senior advocate Dushyant Dave, who represented the channel, and additional solicitor general (ASG) Aman Lekhi for the Union government.
When the hearing began, the ASG submitted that YouTube is flooded with messages against the single bench who delivered the judgment under appeal. Strongly objecting this submission, Dave argued that the innuendo is that the appellant is behind it and is aimed at prejudicing the bench.
"YouTube is a vast ocean and if someone has done anything as alleged by the ASG, we condemn it and we have the highest respect for the judiciary. But to give an impression that we are behind it is totally baseless and the ASG should not have made such statements to prejudice the court," Dave said.
Dave, who represented the channel operator Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd, argued that security clearance is not required at the time of renewal of licence but only at the stage of initial grant of permission as per the guidelines relied on by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to revoke the licence. There are some conditions to be fulfilled for renewal but they do not include security clearance, Dave submitted while contending that the MIB's order should be set aside as it was issued without any power.
Opposing this, the ASG argued that the guidelines should be viewed as a whole and its intent should be kept in mind while applying it. During the afternoon hearing, the ASG sought time to produce documents in a sealed cover and to file a detailed counter affidavit. Dave argued that it was immaterial and the court allowed him to continue to argue the case. Relying on several Supreme Court decisions on press freedom and the scope of judicial review in matters relating to national security, Dave argued that refusal to renew licence would be the death knell for the company, with 350 employees losing their jobs and infrastructure built up over a decade going to waste.
