The court said that even though there is not much detail available in the files placed before it, it is of the view that it contains certain aspects affecting public order or security of the state.

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday upheld the Centre's decision to deny security clearance to Malayalam news channel Media One, saying there were certain aspects in the intelligence report about the channel, which affect public order or national security. A bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chali said the single judge was right in refusing to interfere with the Centre's January 31 decision to ban the broadcast of Media One.

Company's relationship with some undesirable forces

The court said that it perused the files placed before it by the Ministry of Home Affairs and found that certain aspects with regard to the application of uplinking and downlinking permissions for 'Media One Life' and 'Media One Global' were related to the security of the country. This suggests that Madhyam Broadcasting Limited has links with some undesirable forces, which have been described as a security threat.

Similarly, with regard to the application for renewal of uplinking and downlinking of Media One news channel, the court also observed that there are some serious adverse reports by the Intelligence Bureau against Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited and its Managing Director. It is true that the nature, impact, severity and depth of the issue is not known from the files. But, at the same time there are clear and important signs affecting the public order and security of the state. We are not saying much about national security in view of a confidential and sensitive file maintained by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Upheld the decision of single bench

The court said that even though there is not much detail available in the files placed before it, it is of the view that it contains certain aspects affecting public order or security of the state. Keeping these important aspects in view, in view of the contents of the confidential files placed before us, we are of the view that the Single Judge has been right by refusing to interfere with the decision of the Central Government to deny renewal of uplinking and downlinking permission. Simultaneously, the court dismissed the appeal by Madhyamma, some of its employees, its editor and the Kerala Union of Working Journalists against the Centre's decision and the February 8 single judge order.