Delhi High Court Orders Commencement Of Operation Of 'Lokshahi Marathi' News Channel

The Delhi High Court has directed the Union Government to permit the proprietors of “Lokshahi Marathi” to commence the operation of the news channel forthwith.

Justice Subramonium Prasad observed that the proprietors had taken steps to rectify the defects pointed out by the Union Government and thus, are entitled to run the channel.

“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,” the court said.

It ordered: “Resultantly, 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.”

The court disposed of the plea moved by proprietors of the news channel namely Zora Traders Limited, Swaraj Marathi Broadcasting LLP and Bahubali Shantilal Shah, challenging an order passed by the Union Government on January 09 suspending the operation of Lokshahi Marathi channel, on all distribution platform operators throughout India, for 30 days.

On January 12, the court had directed Zora Traders, the proprietor company, to take corrective measures to ensure that the entire activity of the channel is under its own control and that the operations in accordance with the Government's Policy Guidelines of 2022.

Thereafter, an affidavit was filed by the proprietor stating that all the defects pointed out by the authorities have been carried out.

The Union Government then issued a communication conveying that the Competent authority had taken note of the corrective measures taken by Zora Traders and the undertaking furnished by it to abide by the Policy guidelines and terms and conditions of the permission issued.

“The Ministry hopes that the effective control and management of the TV channel 'Lokshahi Marathi' shall be with M/s Zora Traders Ltd ( to whom permission has been issued),” the communication said.

While disposing of the plea, the court clarified that it had not made any observations on the merits of the case and had exercised its discretion under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, keeping in view the fact that the channel was not operated for 15 days and the Central Government was satisfied that all the defects pointed out by it have been rectified by the proprietors.

Counsel for Petitioners: Mr. Jayant Mehta, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Vishakha Ahuja, Advocates

Counsel for Respondents: Mr. Vikramjeet Banerjee, ASG with Mr. Vedansh Anand, GP, Mr. Apoorv, Shankar, Mr. Suraj Mishra, Mr. Waize Ali Noor, Mr. Varun Rajawat, Mr. Kartik Baijal, Ms. Shreya V Mehra, Ms. Vidhi Jain, Advocates

Title: ZORA TRADERS LIMITED & ORS v. UNION OF INDIA & ANR

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 115

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