SC to hear Manipur govt's plea against HC order on internet restoration on July 11
Jul 10, 2023
New Delhi [India], July 10 : The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on July 11 a plea of the Manipur government against the High Court order on the limited restoration of the internet in the State.
A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha said it will hear the case on Tuesday.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Manipur government, mentioned the matter today for an urgent hearing.
"This is concerning the internet shutdown in Manipur. The situation in the State keeps changing very fast. The appeal is against the High Court order where it has directed restoration of internet service," Mehta said.
The High Court has recently asked the State's home department to allow internet access through Internet Leased Lines (ILL) for businesses and offices as well as consider providing broadband connectivity through Fibre to the Home (FTTH) for household use on a case-by-case basis.
The Manipur High Court has ordered physical trials for granting internet access to mobile numbers that are verified and cleared by the home department.
However, this should only be done after ensuring that all stakeholders have complied with the safeguards recommended by a 12-member expert committee appointed by the State government.
The committee proposed that internet services can be provided by all service providers in the state to a limited number of "whitelisted" mobile numbers, which would be specifically identified and furnished by the home department.
The service providers assured that internet access would be limited exclusively to these whitelisted numbers, with no possibility of leakage or utilisation by anyone other than the authorised user.
Based on these recommendations, the High Court ordered the State government to conduct physical trials to assess the feasibility of providing internet services to the whitelisted mobile phones while ensuring the security of the State and the safety of its citizens and their properties.
The order of the division bench of the High Court came while hearing multiple PILs seeking restoration of the Internet in the State.
Internet services in Manipur have been suspended since May 3 when ethnic violence broke out in the State.
