On 5th April 2023, the Apex Court of India put forward crucial statements on the significance of freedom and the importance of the press in a democratic country like India. The case was heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli. The title of the case was Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd vs Union of India and Others. Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave along with Advocate Haris Beeran who provided him with assistance presented the case for channel management. For the Editor and KUWJ, Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi and Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared respectively. Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj presented the case for the Union.
The honourable court was hearing the case of a Malayalam news channel Media One for the telecast ban that the Centre imposed on the channel on the grounds of national security. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting denied renewing the channel’s broadcast licence. Renewing the broadcast license was significant so that it could get security clearance approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had presented a sealed cover report to the Kerala High Court where firstly the case was heard. Kerala High Court had upheld the ban imposed on Media One channel and thus for requesting relief approached the top court. The Court criticized this sealed cover procedure adopted by the Centre. It said, “non-disclosure of reasons for denial on basis of grounds of security and disclosure only to court in sealed cover has led to violation of principles of natural justice”
Supreme Court stated that the press must speak truth to power and bring out facts before the public. It made lucid that national security claims by the government cannot be made out of thin air as well as critical views presented by the press cannot be termed as ‘anti-establishment.’ Moreover, it said that if the channel has links with Jamaat-e-Islami Hind this is not at all a legitimate ground to impose restrictions on the Channel.
“An independent press is vital 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 press has a duty to speak the truth and present citizens with hard facts, enabling them to make choices that prepare democracy in the right direction. The restriction on the freedom of the press compels citizens to think along the same tangent. A homogenized view on issues that range from socioeconomic polity to political ideologies would pose grave dangers to democracy”, the Bench held.
Lastly, the ban imposed on the channel was revoked by the Apex Court and it was given back its rights to continue its operations in the way it used to before the ban.
Written by Sonakshi Misra, 2nd year (4th semester) B.A.LL.B. Hons. student at Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Legal Studies, Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur.
