Manipur HC asks state govt to find ways to restore mobile internet

Responding to appeals filed by various quarters, the Manipur High Court has asked the state government to find ways to restore mobile internet services for the people of the state, court officials said on Saturday.

Mobile internet services have been snapped across Manipur since the ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3.

A high court official said that a division bench comprising Justice Ahanthem Bimol Singh and Justice A Guneshwar Sharma directed on Friday that "state authorities, especially the home department, should consider devising mechanism/methods for providing internet services through mobile phones by whitelisting the mobile numbers on case-to-case basis and in a phase-wise manner.”

“Accordingly, the state authorities are directed to consider this aspect and submit a report on the next date. The court will again hear the matter on August 31,” the HC order said.

During the hearing, the state's counsel told the court: “In terms of the earlier directions given by this court, the authorities have conducted physical trial with regard to the opening of internet services through mobile phones by whitelisting certain numbers and as per the report submitted by the service providers, there is no data leakage to any other numbers which are not whitelisted.”

The order said that state’s counsel M. Rarry submitted that the state authorities may be given two weeks’ time to devise certain measures/mechanism for whitelisting mobile phones and the liberty to consider whitelisting of mobile numbers on case-to-case basis and in a phase-wise manner.

Meanwhile, responding to the demands from all sections of people, the Manipur government, after 84 days, had on July 25 partially lifted the ban on internet in the ethnic violence-hit state.

Home Commissioner T. Ranjit Singh, in an order, had said that the state government has made a considered decision to lift suspension in case of broadband service (Internet Lease Line and Fibre to the Home) conditionally in a liberalised manner subject to fulfillment of 10 conditions, including that connection has to be only through static IP.