Justice Chacha Mwita issued temporary orders barring the government from interfering with all television transmissions until the case is heard on February 14.
Mr Omtatah also wants the court to compel the government to compensate the media houses for the shutdown which started on January 30.
He moved to court seeking an order that the switch-off of TV stations is illegal and against the constitution.
The High Court has ordered the government to immediately restore all TV transmissions shut down on Tuesday pending the hearing of a suit filed by activist Okiya Omtatah.
Justice Chacha Mwita also issued temporary orders barring the government from interfering with all television transmissions until the case is heard on February 14.
Other than seeking to restore transmission at NTV, KTN News, Inooro and Citizen, Mr Omtatah wants the court to compel the government to compensate the media houses for the shutdown which started on January 30.
Mr Omtatah moved to court seeking an order that the switch-off of TV stations is illegal and against the constitution.
The activist argues that the move by the State to shut down TV stations including NTV, Citizen and KTN News is a violation of Article 33 and 34 of the Constitution.
Compensation
He also argued that the government was exposing the taxpayers to costs as a result of the shutdown.
He wants the court to issue an order compelling the government to compensate the TV stations for pecuniary loss incurred during the switch-off as well as general damages for violation of his rights as a consumer and the media houses.
The activist argues that there is an immediate cause for concern over the constitutionality of the government’s action of switching off television.
“Without warning and without giving any reasons, on the morning of 30th January, 2018, the respondents switched off (shut down) free-to-air transmission on television channels owned by the 1st to 3rd interested parties,” he said in the petition.
He argues that Article 33(1) guarantees to every person the right to freedom of expression, which includes: freedom to seek, receive or impart information or ideas.
Also, the public's right to information under Article 35 is directly affected since the switch off curtailed the public’s right of access to information broadcast by the media houses.
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