Can state use ‘national security’ as a ground to limit judicial review — a question common in Pegasus and MediaOne cases

A case is before the Kerala High Court concerning the Centre’s decision to cancel telecast permission to Malayalam news channel MediaOne for national security reasons

The question whether the state can use 'national security' as a ground to limit judicial scrutiny has come up for scrutiny again in the MediaOne TV channel case barely weeks after the Supreme Court, in its Pegasus case order, observed that the Centre cannot expect a ‘free pass’ from the courts as soon as it raises the ‘spectre of national security’.

The government has cited national security reasons in the Kerala High Court for cancelling telecast permission to the Malayalam news channel.

“It is a settled position of law that in matters pertaining to national security, the scope of judicial review is limited. However, this does not mean that the State gets a free pass every time the spectre of ‘national security’ is raised. National security cannot be the bugbear that the judiciary shies away from, by virtue of its mere mentioning. Although this court should be circumspect in encroaching upon the domain of national security, no omnibus prohibition can be called for against judicial review… The mere invocation of national security by the State does not render the court a mute spectator,” a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana observed in the Pegasus case order in October 2021.