The Jharkhand High Court on Sunday directed the state government to immediately restore internet services that had been disrupted across the state. The disruption was ordered in connection with the Jharkhand General Graduate Level Combined Competitive Examination (JGGLCCE).
A division bench consisting of Justices Ananda Sen and Anubha Rawat Choudhary also mandated that the government must seek prior approval from the court before imposing any future internet shutdowns for examinations.
The state’s Home Secretary, Vandana Dadel, appeared before the court, presenting the file and standard operating procedures that were followed in issuing the notification for the suspension of internet services. The court took possession of the file, which was placed under the custody of the registrar general. A photocopy of the file was provided to Dadel.
During the hearing, Jharkhand State Bar Council chairman, Rajendra Krishna, informed the court that the government had modified its earlier notification and extended the suspension of all internet services from 4:00 am to 3:30 pm on September 22. This suspension covered not just mobile data but all forms of internet services, including broadband, fixed-line, FTTH, and leased lines.
Krishna highlighted that this broader suspension conflicted with the government's earlier statement to the court on September 21, where it was claimed that only mobile data services were suspended for a short period. The court was informed that the government had initially limited the shutdown to mobile internet from 8:00 am to 1:30 pm on September 21. However, the revised notification extended the suspension to include all internet services for an extended period.
BSNL General Manager Sanjiv Verma, who was summoned along with representatives from other internet service providers such as Airtel and Jio, confirmed that BSNL had received a directive from the state's Principal Secretary, Department of Home, Prison, and Disaster Management, Vandana Dadel, to block all internet services, including broadband and leased lines.
Additional Advocate General Sachin Kumar informed the court that the internet shutdown was implemented following intelligence inputs received on the night of September 21, which prompted the government to take additional security measures during the examination.
The court expressed its concern, noting that it had not issued any interim orders against the government's actions on September 21 because it had been misled into believing that only mobile data services were being suspended. The court deemed the government’s later decision to extend the suspension to all internet services as an act of "overreaching the judicial order," calling it "deceitful" and "a fraud played on the court."
On Saturday, the court had instructed the state government to clarify under which legal provisions and policies internet services were being suspended. Moreover, the opposition BJP in Jharkhand has criticized the state government’s internet shutdown, calling it an attempt to cover up the state's governance failures.
(With inputs from PTI)
