Centre bans MediaOne news channel, HC stays implementation of order for 2 days

The Union Government on Monday barred the telecast of Malayalam news channel MediaOne citing security reasons but the Kerala High Court stayed the implementation of the order for two daysThe Centres move drew the ire of many with the Opposition Congress party terming the move as undemocraticThe telecast of MediaOne channel has once again been disallowed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Government of India citing security reasons The Government has not been forthcoming with the details Pramod Raman the Editor of MediaOne said in a statement hereWhen contacted Information and Broadcasting ministry officials confirmed that the channel has been banned but did not share any further detailsThe media house challenged the order before the Kerala High Court which put on hold its implementation for two daysWhile putting on hold the order Justice N Nagaresh also sought the Centres stand on the plea moved by Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd which operates MediaOne channelSenior advocate S Sreekumar and advocate K Rakesh who represented the media group told the high court that the channel was not involved in any antinational activity and urged it to direct the ministry to withdraw the orderSpeaking to PTI Rakesh said the ministrys order was received around 1 PM on Monday and by 145 PM the plea was filed and by 3 PM permission was granted for urgent hearing of the matter He confirmed that the court put on hold the order till Wednesday the next date of hearingAssistant Solicitor General S Manu who appeared for the ministry said he opposed the plea and sought time from the court to get appropriate instructions from the CentreTherefore the court listed the matter on Wednesday and till then put on hold the implementation of the order he addedMeanwhile Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan slammed the IampB moveThe banning of telecast of MediaOne channel without citing any reason was undemocratic This is against natural justice The Union government has a responsibility to cite the reason behind the ban The government is trying to implement the agenda of Sangh Parivar which has been intolerant against unpleasant truths he saidHe said the ban amounts to attack on media freedomMediaOne along with another Malayalam News channel Asianet was briefly suspended for 48 hours over their coverage of communal violence in Delhi in 2020 with the official orders then saying they covered the violence in a manner that highlighted the attack on places of worship and siding towards a particular communityChannels reporting on Delhi violence seems to be biased as it is deliberately focusing on the vandalism of CAA supporters the ministry order on Media One had said adding it also questions RSS and alleges Delhi Police inaction Channel seems to be critical towards Delhi Police and RSS