The Supreme Court on Wednesday overruled the Centre for blocking Malayalam news channel MediaOne by denying security clearance to it. The top court pulled up the Union home ministry for raising national security claims in "thin air" without facts.
A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud was hearing the plea of the news channel against the Kerala High Court order which had upheld the Centre's decision to ban the channel's telecast on security grounds.
"National security claims cannot be made out of thin air, there must be material facts backing it," the bench said, adding that the central government had failed to show any material evidence to justify the ban on the news channel.
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The Supreme Court said critical views of the channel against government policies cannot be termed as anti-establishment as an independent press is necessary for robust democracy.
According to a LiveLaw report, the Supreme Court said that the home ministry had relied on the channel’s reportage on Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC), criticism of the judiciary, State etc to term it anti-establishment. “An independent press is vital for the robust functioning of a Democratic Republic…The press has a duty to speak truth and present citizens with hard facts, enabling them to make choices that prepare democracy in the right direction,” the bench said, as quoted in the report.
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Supreme Court stated that the non-renewal of license for the media channel would be a restriction on the right to freedom of speech.
(With PTI inputs)
