
[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]S[/dropcap]enior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party, Dr. Subramanian Swamy wrote to the Information and Broadcasting (I & B) Minister Shri. Venkaiah Naidu expressing concern that South Asia FM Ltd., a Sun Group company has been granted FM Radio channels. He said that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has denied a security clearance to the Sun Group citing National Security concerns. The e-Auction of the first batch of Private FM Radio channels concluded just recently and South Asia bagged 5 cities namely Surat, Amritsar, Patna, Jammu and Chandigarh.
With the I & B Ministry granting the FM Radio license to South Asia FM Ltd. on October 27th, a confusion has been created as to whether the license was granted with the concurrence of the Home Ministry or not.
Sun Group had moved different High Courts on the concept of national security clearance and won a favorable order in Madras High Court but the Delhi High Court suggested deferring the auction process. Seeing the ambiguity in different courts on the stance of National Security clearance, Dr. Swamy wrote that he has moved the Supreme Court in a Writ Petition, seeking clarity on framing a proper security policy, especially when a Parent Company is accused of Money Laundering and defrauding the public exchequer.
With the I & B Ministry granting the FM Radio license to South Asia FM Ltd. on October 27th, a confusion has been created as to whether the license was granted with the concurrence of the Home Ministry or not.
He expressed the concern that BJP had promised the people of the country in its 2014 manifesto to fight corruption and decisions like this will tarnish the image of the government as the Sun Group has been involved in a number of corruption cases and are also among the accused in the 2G case, for which the trial is going on. He urged the I & B Department to reconsider this decision and withhold all its (Sun Group) operations forthwith. Due to the sensitivity of the matter, allowing an FM station to broadcast without HMA security clearance can be a potential threat to the national security.
A copy of the letter is shown below:
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Not at all a wise decision to grant licences to Sun Group. Please withhold them immediately.
A ruling BJP Govt at center always suffers from Left&Right brain co-ordination issues (Humpty Dumpty..) whether it is intentional or not..
Does the I&B Minister, Venkaiah Naidu belong to the group of 165 theory, such gullibility!