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Synopsis

The Delhi High Court has permitted  Mumbai-based news channel Lokshahi Marathi to operate.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry had suspended the channel's license for 30 days, effectively halting its broadcast. The I&B Ministry has shut down the channel, citing the non-submission of certain documents relating to the company.

The license had been suspended by the government for 30 days on the grounds that the operators of the channel were not the same as those in whose name the licence was issued

As per Clause 32 of the Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines-2022, a TV channel or a teleport can be transferred by a company or LLP, granted permission under the Guidelines, to another company or LLP only with the prior approval of the I&B Ministry.

The bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad said, "This Court while exercising its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India and keeping in view the satisfaction arrived at by the Respondents, is of the opinion that the Petitioners must be permitted to commence the operation of channel."

"Keeping in view the fact that 15 days have already passed after the Impugned Order dated 09.01.2024 has been passed, this Court is inclined to direct the Respondent No.1/Union of India to permit the Petitioners to commence the operation of News TV Channel "Lokshahi Marathi" forthwith," it ordered. 

"This Court has not made any observations on the merits of the case, and this Court has exercised its discretion under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, keeping in view the fact that the channel has not been operated for a period of 15 days and Respondent No.1/Union of India has now satisfied that all the defects pointed out by it have been rectified by the Petitioners and the activity of the channel is under their control," the court said in its order dated January 25. 

Earlier, Advocate Jayant Mehta, representing Lokshahi Marathi, argued that the ministry's suspension order, sent to the channel on January 9 at 6 p.m., lacked any justification. He emphasized that the order was issued "without any reason". He had submitted that even after Lokshahi Marathi had responded to the ministry's show cause notice, action had been taken by the ministry.

The grounds for the license suspension were cited as "blatant and continuous" violations of policy guidelines.

In a statement, the channel had said it replied to a show cause notice sent on November 17, 2023. On December 14, 2023, it asked for additional time to submit documents sought by the authorities. “Despite this, the sudden suspension announced on January 9 has shocked us...we will be fighting against this in a legal manner...,” it said.

Notably, this marks the second such action against the TV news outlet within a span of five months. Previously, on September 22 of the preceding year, the I&B ministry imposed a 72-hour ban on Lokshahi Marathi following the airing of a "sexually explicit" video allegedly featuring BJP leader Kirit Somaiya.

After Somaiya's videos were telecasted, the channel was shut down for 72 hours. However, later, the high court stayed the order. 

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