NEW DELHI (TIP): The Supreme Court on Wednesday, April 5, quashed the Centre’s telecast ban on Malayalam news channel MediaOne and pulled up the Ministry of Home Affairs for raising national security claims in “thin air” without facts. Observing that the State can’t impose unreasonable restrictions on press as it would have a chilling effect on press freedom, a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud set aside the Kerala High Court order which had upheld the Centre’s decision to ban the channel’s telecast on security grounds. The top court said critical views of the channel against government policies cannot be termed as anti-establishment as an independent press is necessary for a robust democracy. “Press has a duty to speak truth to power and present citizens with hard facts enabling them to make choices that propel democracy in the right direction. The restriction on freedom of press compels citizens to think along the same tangent. “Homogenized views on issues that range from socio-economic polity to political ideologies would pose great dangers to democracy,” the bench said, adding that non-renewal of license for a channel is a restriction on the right to freedom of speech. The top court said the alleged link of the channel’s shareholders to Jamaat-e-Islami Hind is not a legitimate ground to restrict the rights of the channel.
It said the State is using national security as a tool to deny citizens remedies that are provided under the law.
“National security claims cannot be made out of thin air, there must be material facts backing it,” the bench said.
Here are the top 5 observations from the Supreme Court verdict.
“There is nothing to show terrorist links. National security claims cannot be made on the basis of thin air. It is seen that none of the material is against national security or threatens public order,” the bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said. “National security can’t be raised to deny people their rights… it was raised by the MHA in a cavalier manner in this case,” the court added.
“Government cannot be allowed to have a stand that press must support the government,” the court said, adding that criticism of government cannot be a ground to revoke license of a TV channel.
“An independent press is necessary for the robust functioning of a democratic republic. Its role in the democratic society is crucial, for it shines a light on the functioning of the State,” the court said.
“All investigation reports cannot be termed secret as these affect the rights and liberty of the citizens,” the court said, adding that there cannot be a “blanket immunity” to the government from disclosing information.