The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: The Union government has suspended the licence of the Lokshahi Marathi news channel for 30 days.
The channel had, last year, received a suspension notice from the same Ministry of Information and Broadcasting which suspended its licence now, over a July 17, 2023 report on Bharatiya Janata Party Kirit Somaiya. The previous notice had been for 72 hours. The channel had appealed against it at the Delhi high court, which revoked the order.
The Wire had reported how the primetime news item was based on a purported sex video of the BJP leader. The anchor, and also the channel’s editor-in-chief, Kamlesh Sutar while presenting the content of the highly redacted video asked: “Is Kirit Somaiya being honey trapped?” The story of Somaiya’s supposed sexual trapping had gained traction, with leaders from the opposition accusing him of sexual misconduct and extortion, among other things. Somaiya, in retaliation, filed complaints with the Mumbai police, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), and moved the Bombay high court saying his public image had been tarnished.
Indian Express reported that an unnamed source in the I&B ministry told the paper that the government had suspended the channel’s licence now on the grounds that the operators of the channel were not the same as those in whose name the licence had been issued.
“It’s not a cancellation but a suspension, and they have 30 days to rectify the deficiency,” the paper’s source said.
The channel’s website carries a statement on the suspension in Marathi.
“Clearly, Lokshahi has done its job of fearless journalism,” it said.
“We will fight the battle in the courts. This is the first time in the history of Maharashtra that the channel has been ordered to be shut down,” it added.
The channel has also said that it replied to a ‘show cause’ notice sent to it by the government on November 17, 2023 and on December 14, 2023, it had sought additional time to submit the papers sought.
“Despite this, a sudden suspension was announced on January 9…,” it said.