India’s top court ruled on Wednesday that the Centre’s refusal to grant security clearance to Malayalam news channel MediaOne was invalid and that a government’s criticism cannot be used as justification for revoking a media outlets or television channel’s licence. The Kerala High Court’s decision to uphold the Center’s decision to forbid its telecast-on security grounds was being challenged by the news channel in the Supreme Court. The Ministry of Home Affairs was criticised by a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud for using the national security justification to restrict citizens’ rights. Rule of law is incompatible with this. Claims relating to national security cannot be made out of thin air. The court further stated that MHA’s refusal to disclose the reasons for its denial of security clearance and its disclosure to the court only under “sealed cover” violated the rights to a fair trial and the principles of natural justice by leaving the company “in the dark to fight out.
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