Two Malayalam news channels, Asianet News and Media One, which were banned by the information and broadcasting ministry for their coverage of the recent violence in Delhi on Friday evening, were allowed to resume telecasting on Saturday morning.
While Asianet News appeared to have begun operations around 7am on Saturday, Media One was screening content by 9.30am.
The ministry of information and broadcasting had imposed a 48-hour ban on Asianet News and Media One for their coverage of the Delhi violence for 48 hours from 7.30pm on Friday. Both Asianet News and Media One were barred under Rule 6(1 c) and Rule 6(1e) of the Cable Television Networks Act, 1994.
The ministry of information and broadcasting alleged Asianet News and Media One were “biased” and critical of the RSS and Delhi Police.
The ban on Asianet News and Media One triggered a torrent of criticism of the move. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor asked how “Malayalam channels inflame communal passions in Delhi?” and alleged some English news channels were continuing “their brazen distortions” with impunity.
In a statement issued on Friday after the ban, Media One termed the move “unfortunate and condemnable” and called it a “blatant attack against free and fair reporting”. Media One called it “an order to stop free and fair journalism”.