Mumbai: The ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) on Monday revoked the permission granted to Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd to uplink and downlink the Malayalam news channel MediaOne citing security concerns.

The MIB granted permission to the MediaOne channel to be aired on 30 September 2011 which was valid up till 29 September 2021. According to the ministry order, clause 9.2 of the uplinking guidelines stipulates that security clearance of a company and its directors is a prerequisite condition for grant of permission for TV channels which is up for renewal every ten years.

Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd which had applied for renewal of permission on 3 May 2021 was denied security clearance by the ministry of home affairs. In response to a show-cause notice sent by MIB, the company mentioned that they are “unaware of the grounds for denial of security clearance.”

On its social media handles, MediaOne has put out a statement attributed to its editor Pramod Raman. It reads, “MediaOne telecast has once again been disallowed by the ministry of information and broadcasting, government of India, citing security reasons. The government has not been forthcoming with the details.”

It added “MediaOne is taking urgent legal steps for the restoration of the channel and hope to get back to the viewers as soon as we can. For the time being, we are suspending our telecast confident that justice will prevail.”

According to media reports, the company has moved to the Kerala high court to secure a stay order. This is the second time that the channel has been barred from airing. In March 2020, Asianet News and MediaOne TV had been barred for 48 hours by MIB citing security concerns.