Thiruvananthapuram: The media fraternity in Kerala on Tuesday staged a protest in front of the Raj Bhavan here, against the Union Government's decision that barred the telecast of Malayalam news channel MediaOne citing "security reasons".

The protest in front of the Raj Bhavan was inaugurated by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) convener A Vijayaraghavan. Former KPCC president V M Sudheeran, CPI leader Pannyan Raveendaran among others participated .

The Union Government had on January 31 barred the telecast of MediaOne citing "security reasons" against which the channel moved the Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court today said the denial of security clearance to the channel by the MHA was "justified" and upheld the Centre's decision to bar its telecast.

Justice N Nagaresh also declined to keep his order in abeyance for a few days to enable the channel to appeal against it, saying since national security was involved, he was not inclined to grant any such relief.

The court had on January 31 put on hold the Centre's decision for 2 days and on February 2 it was extended till February 7 when it was further extended for one more day.