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Synopsis

The Manipur High Court has directed the state authorities to provide limited internet service to the public in some designated places under the control of the state authorities.

The order was passed on June 16 in a bunch of petitions highlighting the hardship being faced by the public due to the blocking of the internet service in the state.

In view of the unrest in the state which arose after the high court's direction to consider granting Scheduled Tribe status to the Meitei community, data services were banned in Manipur on May 3rd. The shutdown was extended multiple times. 

Against such an internet shutdown, several Public Interest Litigations were filed before the high court highlighting the plight of the citizens, especially the students in the state as the admission process for the next academic session are ongoing. 

In the pleas, the high court directed all the Service Providers in the state namely, Vodafone/Idea/Jio/BSNL and Airtel to file a short affidavit explaining as to whether there is any feasibility for providing limited internet services to the public by blocking social media websites and by safeguarding the concern of the state government to maintain law and order in the State.

Further, while posting the matter for consideration on June 23, 2023, the division bench of Justices Ahanthem Bimol Singh & A. Guneshwar Sharma, to enable the public for carrying out their urgent and essential services, directed the state authorities to provide limited internet service.

On May 20th, the state government extended the ban till June 25 to prevent further disturbance to peace.

Case Title: Aribam Dhananjoy Sharma @ Paojel Chaoba & 2 ors v. State of Manipur & 4 ors with connected matters