Jharkhand HC orders immediate restoration of internet services in state – ThePrint – PTIFeed

Ranchi, Sep 22 (PTI) – The Jharkhand High Court on Sunday directed the state government to immediately restore disrupted internet services in the state.

A bench of judges Ananda Sen and Anubha Rawat Choudhary also ordered that the state government should not suspend internet services for exams without first obtaining the court’s permission.

The file submitted by Dadel was taken into custody by the court and handed over to the Registrar General for safekeeping.

An order was made to provide a photocopy of the file to the Minister of the Interior.

Jharkhand State Bar Association President Rajendra Krishna informed the court that the government had modified its order and suspended all internet services from 4 am to 3.30 pm on September 22.

This information was passed on by some telecommunications service providers in messages to their customers, Krishna said.

Previously, on September 21, the government had informed the court that in order to carry out the JGGLCCE, only consumers’ mobile data would be blocked for a short period of time.

However, the government has overridden its own notification and suspended all internet services, including fixed-line, FTTH and leased-line broadband connectivity across the state, Krishna told the court.

In addition, the duration of the closure has now been moved from 4:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on September 22nd.

The closure lasted from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on September 21.

The court had sought the presence of an in-charge officer of BSNL Ranchi and other internet service providers like Bharti Airtel and JIO.

BSNL General Manager Sanjiv Verma appeared before the court and stated that BSNL received a notice from Vandana Dadel, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Prisons and Disaster Management, directing them to suspend all internet service including landline, FTTH and leased lines including mobile internet and mobile data services from 8 am to 1.30 pm on September 22.

Deputy Attorney General Sachin Kumar told the court that the government received intelligence information on the night of September 21 and that internet services were disrupted as a countermeasure to the threat.

The court found that it did not issue an injunction against the government on September 21 because it had been given to understand that only a partial shutdown of the Internet had occurred.

But on Sunday, telecommunications authorities made it clear that the government had ordered a complete shutdown of the Internet, the court said.

“This subsequent action by the State amounts to an overstepping of the court order issued on September 21, all the more so as the writ of execution is still pending. This is a fraud on this court and a fraudulent act,” the court said.

The Supreme Court on Saturday directed the state government to respond to a petition explaining the rules and policies that had led to the suspension of internet services in the state for several hours during the day.

The opposition BJP in Jharkhand has termed the state government’s order to suspend mobile internet service for five hours on Saturday and Sunday in view of the entrance exam as yet another “decree” to cover up its “failed” system. PTI CORR NAM ACD

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