The order was passed while disposing of two writ appeals against a common interim order passed by Justice SR Krishna Kumar on June 25.
In this order, Justice Kumar had arrived at a prima facie finding that the licence to broadcast content on Power TV has not been renewed. Therefore, he restrained the broadcast of any content on the TV news channel.
This interim order was passed on two writ petitions – one filed by Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, Dr. BR Ravikanthe Gowda and the other filed by former Member of the Karnataka Legislative Council and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HM Ramesh Gowda and his wife Dr. A Ramya Ramesh.
The petitioners claimed that they had been victims of derogatory broadcast by Power TV and that the channel did not have any licence to continue operating.
The petitioners, therefore, urged the High Court to order the Central government to halt Power TV from telecasting or broadcasting any news.
On June 25, Justice Kumar directed that all broadcast on Power TV should be halted for the time being since there was nothing to conclusively indicate that there was an active licence to broadcast content on the channel.
Source: Barandbench
