The Manipur High Court has directed the state government to lift the ban on providing internet through Internet Lease Line (ILL) across the state after ensuring that all the stakeholders have complied with the safeguards given by the Expert Committee, constituted earlier, court sources said on Saturday.
As sporadic incidents of violence continued in Manipur, the state government on July 5 extended the suspension of internet services for the 13th time till July 10, to curb the spread of rumours and videos, photos, and messages, which might deteriorate the law and order situation.
A division bench of Justices Ahanthem Bimol Singh and A. Guneshwar Sharma in its order on Friday directed the state government to lift the ban on providing internet through ILL across the state to facilitate limited access to internet services for the public, and to consider Fibre to Home connections (FTH) on a case to case basis, provided the safeguards put on record by the Expert Committee are complied with.
Some of the safeguards stipulated by the Expert Committee for internet access to be restored include limiting the speed to 10MBPS, securing undertakings from intended users that they will not indulge anything illegal, and subjecting the users to “physical monitoring by the concerned authority/officials.”
The The High Court directions came after a Public Interest Litigation filed earlier seeking restoration of internet services in Manipur, where internet suspension continued after the outbreak of the ethnic violence between the non-tribal Meitei and tribal Kuki communities since May 3.
After hearing the service providers of Vodafone, Idea, Jio, BSNL and Airtel, state government, members of the Expert Committee, as well as the Commissioner (Home) and the Director (Information Technology), Manipur, the court in its order said that internet service can be provided by all the service providers operating in Manipur to a limited number of specially identified and whitelisted mobile numbers if such mobile numbers are identified and furnished by the Home Department of Manipur government.
“It has also been stated by all the officials of the service providers that providing of internet service will be exclusively limited to those specially identified or whitelisted mobile numbers and that there is absolutely no chance or possibility of any leakage.
“In other words, except for the person who is using the identified/ whitelisted mobile number, no other person can utilize or avail the internet service provided to the said mobile number,” the HC order said.
The Manipur Human Rights Commission (MHRC) headed by Justice Utpalendu Bikash Saha (Retd) earlier asked the state government to consider restoration of internet services which had been suspended since the ethnic violence broke out on May 3.
Since the ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3. People have been facing scarcity of various essentials, transport fuel, cooking gas and life-saving drugs, disruption in banking and online facilities affecting normal life, the Internet suspension for 67 days across the mountainous state further added to the misery of the people.
'Has endeared himself to people of Tripura', PM Modi extends birthday wishes to CM Manik Saha
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on his birthday, saying that the leader has endeared himself to the state's people with his humble and hardworking nature.
B'deshi smugglers attempt attack on BSF troopers, try to snatch weapons
A group of cross-border smugglers on Tuesday tried to attack a team of on-duty Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and attempted to snatch the weapons of the jawans near northern Tripura, but the bordering guarding force thwarted the daring move, officials said.
Women outnumber male voters in 4 NE states, gender ratio higher than national average
Women voters outnumbered the male voters in the electoral rolls of four northeastern states - Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh - where overall gender ratio was much higher than the national average, officials said on Tuesday.
NE Tripura has immense potential to lead rubber cultivation, says Rubber Board Executive Director M. Vasanthagesan
The Executive Director of the Rubber Board M. Vasanthagesan IRS on Tuesday said that the North eastern states of Tripura and Asam have immense potential to lead rubber cultivation and industrialization in the region. Natural rubber’s contribution to the economy is undeniable, and the northeast must harness this opportunity,” he remarked.
Assam veterinarians lauds execution of sex-sorted artificial insemination of cattle in Tripura
A 12-member delegation of veterinarians of Assam Sribhumi district has made their footfall in the state of Tripura for their 3-day visit and learns the execution of sex-sorted artificial insemination of cattle in the state.
Pradesh BJP to Launch 14 days campaign on Constitution Awareness
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tripura is set to launch 14 day long campaign to celebrate the Constitution of India and raise awareness about its core values, as well as the pivotal role of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in its formation.
Ex Minister alleges negligence at ILS hospital, THRC seeks serves notice seeking response
Tripura Human Right Commission (THRC) has served a notice to a private hospital in Agartala seeking their stand on an allegation made by former Minister Gopal Chandra Das.
TSF to observe January 8 as Black Day in memory of CAA firing tragedy
The Twipra Students' Federation (TSF), an indigenous student body and member of the North East Students’ Organisation (NESO), has announced plans to observe January 8 as Black Day in remembrance of the 2019 firing that claimed three lives during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).