SC to hear on Tuesday Manipur's plea against internet restoration

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on July 11 the Manipur government's plea against the high court order on limited restoration of the internet in the state.

IMAGE: People of Manipur living in Chennai stage a protest against the violence in the state and demanding peace and control over the current situation, in Chennai, July 9, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha agreed to hear the plea on Tuesday after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought urgent listing of the matter, saying the situation in the state keeps changing very fast.

"This is concerning internet shutdown in Manipur. The situation in the state keeps changing very fast. The appeal is against the high court order where it has directed restoration of internet service. Kindly hear it today (Monday) itself," Mehta said.

The bench said since a batch of pleas on Manipur violence was listed for hearing during the day, it may consider his request then.

During the hearing of the clutch of petitions on ethnic violence in the state, the bench said since it is posting them for hearing on Tuesday, it will also consider the plea of the state government on internet shutdown alongside.

On July 7, the Manipur high court had directed the state government to carry out physical trials to check the feasibility of providing internet service while ensuring security and property of citizens.

The high court, which has asked for a detailed report from the state government, will hear the case on July 25.

After hearing multiple PILs, a division bench of the high court had said, "In the case of fibre to the home connections, internet service can be provided by the home department on a case to case basis" after ensuring compliance of the safeguards suggested by the committee."

The 12-member expert committee had informed the court that internet service could be provided through broadband connections, either through internet leased line or FTTH by ensuring "static IP, banning of Wifi/Hotspots from any of the routers or system, blocking of social media websites and VPNs at the local level, removal of VPN softwares from the system and prohibiting installation of new softwares by any user and enforcing physical monitoring by the concerned authority/ officials."