NEW DELHI: In what has come as a major relief for the Kalanithi Maran owned Sun TV Network, the Supreme Court today (29 January) dismissed the Government’s plea to deny security clearance to its radio channel Red FM.
The apex court in its order said there was no ground for the complaint by the government and there was no evidence of abuse of radio waves by Red FM in the past.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com on the development, Sun Group CFO SL Narayanan said, “We are delighted with this development. This only goes to reinforce our faith in the judiciary.”
Narayanan also informed that the judgment will help Red FM go ahead on its Phase III expansion plans.
Red FM COO Nisha Narayanan added, “We are extremely happy with the decision of the Supreme Court to dismiss the plea of the MIB against the judgment of the Delhi High Court. This just re-affirms our faith in the judicial system and we at Red FM, like any other responsible media house, are totally committed to give our listeners a quality product like we have done in the past decade. Being a market leader, we are all charged up to strengthen brand ‘RED’ and launch Red FM in newer markets and build a strong brand there too.”
Industry sources told this website that the judgment may lead to a rethink about the Home Ministry’s policy relating to denial to radio or television channels on security threat grounds.
It may be recalled that Red FM was initially barred from participating in the Phase III FM auctions after the Home Ministry rejected security clearance to Sun TV Network’s radio channels and denied renewal to its license on the back of ‘security threat’ posed by the Marans.
However, the Delhi and Madras High Courts had passed an order, which allowed Sun TV’s Digital Radio Broadcasting Ltd that runs Red FM, to participate in the auction that was held last year.
