'Idea Was To Stop Channel From Airing News On Sex Scandal' : Supreme Court Stays Broadcast Restraint On Kannada News Channel

The Supreme Court on Friday (July 12) stayed the order of the Karnataka High Court which restrained the broadcast of Kannada news channel 'Power TV'. The stay will operate till next Monday when the Court will continue hearing the matter.

The Court orally observed that the case against the TV channel appeared to be "sheer political vendetta" and was filed with the motive of blocking the channel from airing certain allegations regarding sex scandals in the State.  

Asserting that the Court will protect the freedom of speech and expression, CJI Chandrachud said :

"The more we hear you, the more we are convinced that it is Political Vendetta, let me be very honest. That is why we are inclined to protect the freedom of speech and expression. He (Petitioner) wanted to broadcast some allegations regarding the sex scandal in the State. The idea was to completely blank out his voice, this Court is duty-bound to allow him...this is sheer political vendetta and nothing else. Therefore this court will be failing in its duty if we don't do that(protect the rights)."

The channel was reportedly telecasting the sex scandal allegations against JD(S) leaders Prajwal Revanna and Suraj Revanna. 

The bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was hearing a petition filed by M/s Power Smart Media Private Limited which operates the Kannada news channel. The petitioner challenged the division bench order of the Karnataka High Court which refused to interfere with the stay order passed by the single bench against the broadcast of the channel.   

The High Court passed the order on petitions filed by JD(S) MLC H M Ramesh Gowda and others.

A single judge bench of Justice S R Krishna Kumar, on June 26, passed the stay order, after noting that the Union Government has issued a show-cause notice to the channel. The division bench did not interfere with the order after holding that since 2021, the channel was operating without a valid licence and several notices alleging violation have been issued to it.

Before the Supreme Court, the petitioners contended that the stay order could not have been passed by the High Court merely on the strength of the show-cause notices issued by the Union.

The petitioners were represented by Ranjit Kumar(Sr), Sunil Fernandes (Sr Adv) Mithu Jain AOR and Sanchit Garga Adv. 

The Union was represented by Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta. 

Case Details : M/S. POWER SMART MEDIA PVT LTD VS. UNION OF INDIA DIARY NO. - 29441/2024

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