Manipur High Court orders State to provide limited internet service in designated areas

The Manipur High Court recently directed the State authorities to provide limited internet services to the public at designated places under their control in the State [Aribam Dhananjoy Sharma and Ors. vs State of Manipur and Ors.]..Justices Ahanthem Bimol Singh and A Guneswar Sharma passed the order in a batch of public interest litigation (PIL) petitions seeking the restoration of internet services in the State. .Amid violent clashes within the State, the authorities had imposed an internet shut down in Manipur. The Court directed the State authorities to provide limited internet services in designated areas, considering the hardships being faced by the public. ."Taking into consideration the hardship faced by the public specially with regard to the ongoing admission process of the students in the State and to enable the public for carrying out their urgent and essential services, the State authorities are directed to provide limited internet service to the public in some designated places under the controlled of the State authorities," the Court's June 16 order stated. .The Court also instructed various internet service providers to submit on affidavit whether it would be feasible to offer limited internet services to the public, after blocking social media access and ensuring that the State's concerns regarding law and order are addressed. .The Court will hear the matter next on June 23. .An indefinite internet ban has been in force in Manipur since May 3 following the outbreak of violence in the State. This followed a Manipur High Court order instructing the State government to "consider the inclusion of the Meetei/Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe list."Consequently, clashes between tribal and non-tribal communities escalated, resulting in the loss of lives..Pertinently, on June 9, the Supreme Court had declined to urgently list a petition challenging the internet shutdown..A vacation bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal had noted that the Manipur High Court was already hearing the matter. Hence, the top court opined that there was no need to duplicate the proceedings..On a related note, the Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to urgently list an interlocutory application filed by the Manipur Tribal Forum concerning the violence in the State. A vacation bench observed that while there were serious issues of law and order involved, the Court will hear the case only after the Court resumes full functioning after its summer break..[Read Order]