Plea For Access To Publicly Available WiFi When Govt Suspends Mobile Net Data: High Court Seeks Replies Of Punjab Govt, UOI

The bench of Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj passed this order in a petition moved by one Neeraj who has moved the court contending that suspension of mobile internet services adversely affects a particular section of a citizenry whose sole means to access the internet is through mobile data services such as 2G/3G/4G/5G/CDMA/GPRS.

"Mr. Saurav Verma, Addl. A.G. Punjab appears and accepts notice on behalf of respondent No.1 and Mr. Dheeraj Jain, Senior Counsel, Government of India appears and accepts notice on behalf of respondent No.2-Union of India and prays for some time to complete instructions and to file a response. To come up on 08.08.2023 for further consideration," the Court's order reads

The plea also submits that the likes of the petitioner, an internet user, who obtains access to the internet only through mobile-data services, are the worst-affected individuals when the State decides to suspend only mobile-data services as it happened recently (in March 2023).

Significantly, the petitioner has made another argument that when mobile data is suspended, the fundamental right to access the Internet of people (who access the Internet through mobile data) gets ultimately affected, while on the other hand, the people who have access to WIFI/Broadband, can still use the internet, making it a case of unreasonable classification between the two sets of people.

“That in such situations, their access to the internet stands absolutely prohibited, in stark comparative discrimination to those who access the internet via fixed-line broadband or Wi-Fi services, for whom one might concede that suspension of mere mobile-data services is only a reasonable restriction. Therefore, on the face of it, because one set of citizens such as the Petitioner suffer an absolute prohibition of their fundamental right, while another set of citizens enjoy a reasonably restricted fundamental right, not only is there a breach of Article 19(1)(a) and Article 19(1)(g), but also of Article 14 of the Constitution,” the plea adds.

In view of this, the petitioner has underscored that when internet access is curtailed only by suspending mobile-data services, then it becomes incumbent for the State to ensure alternate internet access through publicly available broadband/Wi-fi services at its offices available to those who may need it and that such alternate provision becomes a part of the constitutionally mandated “fair, just and reasonable” procedure established by, and therefore required under the law.

Against this backdrop, the plea prays for a declaration from the HC that the recent orders suspending mobile data services in the State violated the fundamental right to access the internet as interpreted by the Supreme Court in the case of Anuradha Bhasin v Union of India.

Hence, the plea also prays for a direction in the nature of mandamus reading down Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017 to the extent that they empower the competent authorities thereunder to violate the fundamental right to access the internet and/or the fundamental rights as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Anuradha Bhasin.

Case title - Neeraj vs. State of Punjab 

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