Summary:
The Centre on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court it is open to lifting restrictions on high-speed 4G mobile internet services on a trial basis in select areas of Jammu and Kashmir.
Attorney General KK Venugopal said the 4G ban will be lifted in one district each in Jammu and Kashmir divisions from August 16.
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Srinagar: The Centre on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court it is open to lifting restrictions on high-speed 4G mobile internet services on a trial basis in select areas of Jammu and Kashmir.
Attorney General KK Venugopal said the 4G ban will be lifted in one district each in Jammu and Kashmir divisions from August 16.
The Supreme court was hearing a petition filed by Foundation for Media Professionals, a non-government organisation, in June seeking the initiation of contempt proceedings against the Centre and J-K administration for the failure to comply with the top court’s May 11 directions to review restrictions on mobile internet speed in the union territory.
In its last hearing, the top court had said that the Centre should explore the possibility of restoring 4G mobile internet services in Jammu and Kashmir in view of the statements of GC Murmu, the former lieutenant governor of the Union territory, backing the restoration.
“L-G Murmu has said that there is no difficulty in restoring 4G.
You have to give an explanation to that,” justice R Subhash Reddy told solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Jammu & Kashmir administration, last Friday.
Murmu, who was succeeded by Manoj Sinha as the lieutenant governor on Friday, had said on July 24 the restoration of 4G services will not be a problem and Pakistan will continue with its propaganda even if the mobile internet speed is restricted to 2G.
The Centre has cited Islamabad’s propaganda while justifying the restrictions.