SC stays Centre's order banning telecast of channel

One-liner: The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed till further orders the Jan 31 order of the Centre banning telecast of Malayalam news channel MediaOne on security grounds.

What the bench said: A bench said the news and current affairs channel will continue its operations as it was done prior to the ban of the telecast.

Channel can defend: The bench left the question open on whether the content of files on the basis of which the ban order was passed be given to the channel to enable it to defend itself.

SC wants counter by March 26:  The top court asked the Centre to file a detailed counter affidavit by March 26 on the appeals filed by the channel against the HC order.

Opportunities given: Private TV channels against which the govt takes action for propagating content detrimental to national security are given enough opportunities to clarify their stand.

Minister clarifies: Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan said in the LS that all fresh and renewal applications of private TV channels are vetted by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Cancellation of licence: He said if any channel's activity is found to be posing threat to the national security, the MHA denies the security clearance which leads to automatic cancellation of licence.

Action taken: Replying to a question on channels promoting contents detrimental to peace and harmony of society, Murugan said action has been taken in 159 such cases for violating relevant rules.

Source: PTI