Jammu Kashmir Internet Shutdown: On Friday (23 February), a hearing was held in the Supreme Court regarding the Internet ban in Jammu and Kashmir and the control of the Central Government over it. The Supreme Court directed the Jammu and Kashmir administration to publish the review order of the special committee constituted under the Union Home Secretary regarding restoration of internet service in the Union Territory. The court said that the review cannot be a mere formality. However, the bench of Justice BR Gavai, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Sandeep Mehta made it clear that the discussion held in the committee will not be made public.
Asked to make the court review order public
The bench said, “Keeping in mind that the rights of the parties will also be affected by the review order, we express our prima facie opinion that even if it is not necessary to publish the deliberations regarding the review, in the review There is a need to publish the orders passed.” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Jammu and Kashmir administration, said that although the review order is an internal mechanism, there is no hindrance in publishing it.
In May 2020, the Supreme Court had asked the Center to set up a special committee to assess the need for internet restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir. Advocate Shadan Farasat, appearing for petitioner Foundation for Media Professionals, said that states where internet restrictions were imposed at one time or the other have published review orders, but it is incomprehensible why only Jammu and Kashmir is not doing so. .
What happened in the last hearing?
The issue was brought to the court by the Foundation for Media Professionals (FMP), which challenged the state of Jammu and Kashmir in complying with the directions passed by the Supreme Court in two judgments passed in January 2020 (Anuradha Bhasin vs. Union of India) and May 2020. Objection was raised to the intention of the administration. The court, while supporting the publication of the review order on January 30, had claimed that such orders are not meant to be kept in the cupboard.
The Solicitor General told the court that the 2020 Anuradha Bhasin judgment only required publication of orders suspending the internet. He said, “As per the rules, the review committee will have to meet within 5 working days. This was an internal investigation and was not to be published.
(Input also from PTI)
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