Manipur Govt Challenges HC Order On Restoration Of Internet; Supreme Court To Hear Tomorrow

The Supreme Court on Monday will hear tomorrow a plea challenging the Manipur High Court order which allowed the restoration of internet in the State in a limited manner. On July 7, the Manipur High Court had ordered the State government to lift the internet ban on Internet Lease Line (ILL) and Fibre To The Home (FTTH) connections in the State after ensuring that all the stakeholders have complied with the safeguards suggested by an Expert Committee.

Today, the Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Manipur, mentioned a plea challenging the said order, before the Supreme Court. He said–

"This is concerning internet shutdown in Manipur. Situation keeps changing...this is regarding the HC order passed."

Although CJI agreed to list it tomorrow, SG requested that the matter be taken today itself.

Following that, the bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha agreed to hear the matter today with the other batch of pleas concerning Manipur violence.  Later, when the Manipur batch cases were taken, the bench decided to post them tomorrow, so as to give an opportunity to the petitioners to respond to the latest status report filed by the State. Along with the main batch, the State's petition relating to internet shutdown was also adjourned to tomorrow.

The High Court had also directed the government to consider restoring Fiber To The Home (FTTH) connections on a case-by-case basis, provided that the safeguards put on record by the expert committee are complied with. The order was passed by Justices Ahanthem Bimol Singh and Guneshwar Sharma in an order in several public interest litigations (PILs) filed by various parties seeking the restoration of internet in the state.

On 6 July, the Supreme Court had refused to entertain a petition challenging the ongoing internet ban imposed in Manipur since May 3, 2023 in response to reported incidents of violence in the State. The bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice Manoj Misra had remarked that the High Court of Manipur was already seized of the matter and thus, the Supreme Court could not entertain the petition.

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