HC directs
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, June 28 2023:
The High Court of Manipur has directed a 12-member Expert Committee headed by the Joint Director, Department of Information and Technology (DIT) to find a way to provide limited internet services to the public by blocking social media sites.
The direction was given by a division bench of the High Court comprising Justice Ahanthem Bimol Singh and Justice A Guneshwar Sharma yesterday while hearing several Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed with the Court regarding the ban on internet services in Manipur.
Notably, internet services have been shut since May 3 in Manipur after violence broke out during a "Tribal Solidarity March" organised by the All Tribal Students' Union Manipur (ATSUM) .
Hearing the petitions, the Court noted that the Expert Committee, consisting of 12 members headed by G Robert Sharma, Joint Director, Department of Information and Technology, as chairman is tasked to find a solution to provide limited internet services to the public by blocking social media networks/websites.
The Court directed the committee to hold a joint meeting and discuss whether it is feasible to provide limited internet services by blocking social media sites to mitigate the hardship being faced by the public due to the ban put on the internet services.
The committee should study whether it is possible to block third party Virtual Private Network (VPN) servers to ensure limited internet services to the public.
It should submit a detailed report on or before the next date of hearing (July 6) without fail, said the Court directing all members to be present in the Court on the day.
The Court also directed the petitioners to submit names of institutions/centres with internet facility to the Secretary, Home Department, Government of Manipur so that the State can provide limited internet services in the institutions/centres to facilitate students in ongoing school admission processes.