On a recent Friday, the Manipur High Court issued a directive to the State government, urging them to explore methods for providing mobile internet services to the people of the State. This decision was made during the proceedings of the case titled "Aribam Dhananjoy Sharma & Ors v. State of Manipur & Ors," presided over by Justice Ahanthem Bimol Singh and Justice A Guneshwar Sharma.
The Court specifically instructed the State authorities, particularly the Home Department, to devise mechanisms or approaches to offer internet services through mobile phones. This would involve whitelisting mobile numbers on a case-by-case basis and implementing this in phases. The Court emphasized that the State authorities should evaluate this possibility and present a report on this matter during the next hearing.
The case before the Court involved multiple petitions seeking the reinstatement of mobile internet services, which had been suspended due to violent incidents in the State. The State government's counsel informed the Court that, in accordance with prior orders from the High Court, the government had already issued orders to lift the ban on broadband internet services in a more flexible manner. However, this came with certain conditions and safeguards. The counsel stated that many citizens had already benefited from these relaxed regulations.
Regarding the ban on mobile internet, the authorities had conducted trials by whitelisting specific mobile numbers. According to the service providers' report, there was no unauthorized data leakage to non-whitelisted numbers. Based on this information, the petitioners' counsel argued that since there was no data leakage from whitelisted mobile phones, the High Court could consider directing the State to gradually whitelist all mobile phones.
The ban on internet services in Manipur had been in place since May 3 due to violence triggered by tensions over the inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe list. The conflict led to clashes between tribal and non-tribal communities, resulting in loss of life.
The Supreme Court, when approached by two advocates challenging the internet shutdown, declined to urgently list the petition. The Court stated that the matter was already being heard by the High Court and duplicating the proceedings was unnecessary. Consequently, the advocates withdrew their petition from the Supreme Court and instead pursued the matter in the High Court.
The case is scheduled to be heard again on August 31. The petitioners were represented by Advocates Gautam Sharma, M Rakesh, Tim Haobam, L Birjit, and G Pushpa, while Advocates M Rarry, K Samarjit, N Jyotsana, T Momo, and S Samarjeet represented the State and the internet service providers.
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TAGS: Manipur High Court State government mobile internet services directive whitelisting case-to-case basis phase-wise Home Department report petitions restoration violence broadband services liberalized manner safeguards data leakage Meitei community Scheduled Tribe list tribal non-tribal clashes Supreme Court urgency declined duplication proceedings withdrawal advocates next hearing August 31 representatives.
