'This is a fraud played on this court': HC chides Jharkhand govt for total net shutdown due to job test

RANCHI: Questioning the necessity to suspend all internet services across the state for Jharkhand General Graduate Level Combined Competitive Examination on Sept 21 and 22, Jharkhand high court on Sunday ordered the state govt to immediately restore it and not repeat it without the court's consent in future.

Earlier, the state govt, announced that mobile internet services would be suspended across the state from 8am to 1.30pm on the two days, beginning Sept 21, to prevent malpractice during the exam but extended it to broadband connections, too.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by Jharkhand State Bar Council chairman Rajendra Krishna questioning govt's move.

On Sept 21, govt had informed the court that only mobile data was suspended for a short duration. Instead, it banned the entire internet facility, Krishna told the court. Krishna told the division bench of Justices Ananda Sen and Anubha Rawat Choudhary that govt modified its earlier notification and suspended all internet services from 4am to 3.30pm on Sept 22.

The court had requested the presence of a responsible officer of BSNL, Ranchi, and other internet service providers during the hearing. BSNL general manager Sanjiv Verma appeared in court and submitted that they got a message from home secretary Vandana Dadel directing them to block entire internet services, including fixed line, FTTH, fibre and leased line, from 8am to 1.30pm.

Additional advocate general Sachin Kumar told the court that some intelligence inputs were received by govt late at night on Sept 21 and to counter any threat, the internet services were cut off.

The bench observed that the court did not pass any interim order on Sept 21 against govt as it was told that only a partial internet shutdown was being enforced. But on Sunday, it was clarified by telecom authorities that a complete internet shutdown was ordered by govt. "This subsequent action by the state amounts to overreaching the judicial order passed by this court on Sept 21, more so when the writ petition is pending. This is a fraud played on this court and is a deceitful action," the judges said.