In a victory for Digital Radio Broadcasting Ltd (in which Kalanithi Maran-promoted Sun TV has a stake), the Delhi High Court on Tuesday said the Centre’s security procedure for granting permission for stage III FM radio channel auction was vague and open to misuse. It suggested that the government postpone the auction till the matter was heard.
The company had moved the court against the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting denying its radio channel, Red FM, permission to participate in the stage III FM auction.
The matter was listed before the Bench of Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva, who said the clause that spelled out the conditions required of a radio company was vague and open to possible misuse.
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Counsel for the government argued that it was not required to inform the company of the criteria for security clearance. The court, however, disagreed. “Nobody knows what you mean by security clearance. In a democracy, you have to move towards greater transparency and not secrecy,” it said.
The application of Red FM was rejected ostensibly on the ground that Kalanithi Maran, a shareholder in the radio channel, was facing prosecution in a money laundering case.