IMG rejects Star News plea, GoM to have final say

The 600-PAGE Star News application has been rejected by the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) comprising secretaries of Law, I&B and Department...

The 600-PAGE Star News application has been rejected by the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) comprising secretaries of Law, I&B and Department of Company Affairs.

The applicant, Media Content and Communication Services, Star’s shell company — will have to prove that it is in charge of the 24-hour news operations and not some other company, said sources in the I&B Ministry after the IMG meeting last week.

For Star News to find acceptance, the applicant company will have to remove the veto powers currently in the hands of Star India Pvt. Limited, a minority stake holder with 26 per cent stake in the MCCS, if they are seeking to uplink from India on a permanent basis.

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As stated in the application, the MCCS cannot appoint, remove, replace or re-appoint CEO, managing director, chief financial officer or the chief editor without the prior written consent of Star India Pvt Ltd — unacceptable provisos according to the IMG.

But a final verdict on the subject will be delivered by the Group of Ministers (GoM) which meets in a fortnight. This view will form the basis of a note that will be prepared by the GoM which is expected to go into the merits of the application before spelling its verdict.

Sources said Star News’ application confirms to the letter of the law on uplinking by having editors who are all 100 per cent swadeshis. The MCCS had sent in its application for uplinking its news channel on June 19 with a week to go before expiry of the deadline set by the Centre.

Sources said the reason for subjecting Star News application to weekly extensions was to get the company to answer all questions pertaining to MCCS. ‘‘We could not take the decision to reject the application till we had all answers to questions raised by us,’’ sources said.