New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday agreed to hear on July 17, a plea by the Manipur government against the Manipur High Court order for limited restoration of the internet. Advocate Kanu Agarwal, representing the Manipur government, made an urgent mention of the state government’s pending plea before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
The top court agreed to examine the matter on July 17. Earlier, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Manipur government, had mentioned the same matter before the top court saying that the situation in the state changes rapidly.
Earlier in the month, the Manipur High Court had directed the state government to carry out physical trials to check the feasibility of providing Internet service to mobile phones while ensuring the security of life and property of citizens. The court, which has asked for a detailed report, will hear the case on July 25.
After hearing multiple Public Interest Litigations, a division bench of Justice A Bimol and Justice A Guneshwor Sharma said, "In the case of Fibre To The Home (FTTH) connections Internet service can be provided by the home department on a case to case basis" after ensuring compliance of the safeguards suggested by the committee.
The 12-member Expert Committee had informed the court that Internet service could be provided through broadband connections, either through Internet Leased Line (ILL) or FTTH by ensuring "static IP, banning of Wifi/Hotspots from any of the routers or system, blocking of social media websites and VPNs at the local level, removal of VPN software from the system and prohibiting the installation of new software by any user and enforcing physical monitoring by the authority/officials concerned."
