The Supreme Court has announced that the Centre will implement a “carefully calibrated easing” of the restrictions on high-speed mobile internet services in the Union Territory after 15 August on a trial basis. However, the services will be limited to certain geographical areas only, at least for the time being.
After the Article 370 was read down & Jammu & Kashmir’s special status was revoked on August 5, 2019, all internet services including mobile & broadband were shut down completely, as a precautionary measure to maintain a peaceful environment in the region. While 2G and broadband services were brought back in stages slowly, the Centre has decided that now it is the time to bring back 4G mobile services too.
A bench of Justices was appointed for the hearing of a petition filed by Foundation for Media Professionals (FMP). The bench comprising of N.V. Ramana, R. Subhash Reddy and B.R. Gavai looked into the contempt plea & assigned a committee to explore the options & heed the requests of restoring 4G services.
The services will be resumed on a ‘trial’ basis & any region falling on or near the international border or Line of Control will be excluded. The decision will be reviewed after two months, or before that if necessary.
As the “threat perception on the security front in Jammu and Kashmir continues to be high” and “restrictions are not posing any hindrance to COVID control measures, education programmes or carrying out business activities”, the committee headed by home secretary of India, reportedly found that the situation is not instrumental in lifting the restrictions on high-speed internet all at once & it will be wiser to first observe how this situation will unfold in a smaller geographical area of J&K.
