{"id":54287,"date":"2020-01-13T16:27:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-13T10:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=54287"},"modified":"2020-02-26T16:29:07","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T10:59:07","slug":"7-pm-the-value-of-the-scs-kashmir-order-13th-january-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-the-value-of-the-scs-kashmir-order-13th-january-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"7 PM |The value of the SC\u2019s Kashmir order| 13th January 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Context:\n<\/strong>Supreme\nCourt verdict on internet shutdown in Kashmir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>More\nin news:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Internet services in Jammu and Kashmir\n(J&amp;K) are shut since the abrogation of&nbsp;Article 370&nbsp;on August 5\nlast year<\/li><li>Recently, the Supreme Court gave a\njudgement in response to petitions filed against the Internet shutdown and\ncurbing of other civil liberties in the Jammu and Kashmir (J&amp;K).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Internet\nShutdown: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Internet shutdown refers to a deliberate\nsuspension of internet services in a limited area, for a given amount of time,\nusually on the orders of the government.&nbsp;<\/li><li>There are two key-components to this\ndefinition:<\/li><li>An\nInternet shutdown is always Government-imposed i.e. Internet Service Providers\nserving the locality in question are ordered by an agency of the Government to\ncut-off Internet services to that area<\/li><li>An\nInternet shutdown always imposes a&nbsp;blanket ban&nbsp;on Internet access,\nwhere access to the Internet as a whole is disabled, and not a&nbsp;surgical\nban, where access to particular content\/services is disabled leaving access to\nother content\/services unaffected.<\/li><li>Internet shutdowns are generally\ninstituted as a measure to curb violence and unrest in conflict ridden areas. <\/li><li>The explanation offered by authorities\nis that the Internet makes it much easier to spread rumors and false\npropaganda, making it more likely for violence to break out. <\/li><li>Shutdowns are imposed at times in\nconflict prone areas as a preventive measure for similar reasons. <\/li><li>Internet shutdowns have also been\nimposed in India for far more trivial reasons such as preventing cheating\nduring exams and mitigating tensions during a highly anticipated wrestling\nmatch.<\/li><li>In 2016 and 2017, India reported the\nhighest number of internet shutdowns in the world.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"312\" height=\"265\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/555.jpg?resize=312%2C265&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Text Box: https:\/\/internetshutdowns.in\/ \n\u2022\tIt track incidents of Internet shutdowns across India in at attempt to draw attention to the troubling trend of disconnecting access to Internet services, for reasons ranging from curbing unrest to preventing cheating in an examination.\n\u2022\tIt is an initiative of SFLC.In\n\u2022\tSFLC.IN (Software Freedom Law Center) is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, operating all over India.\n\n\n\n\" class=\"wp-image-54289\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>According to <strong>internetshutdowns.in<\/strong> website, of the 381 Internet shutdowns\nrecorded between January 2012 and January 4th 2020, 236 were observed to be\npreventive i.e. restrictions imposed in anticipation of law and order situation\nand 146 shutdowns were reactive in nature i.e. imposed in order to contain\non-going law and order breakdowns<\/li><li><strong>Longest\nShutdown:<\/strong>\n162&nbsp;Days and Counting (4th August 2019 \u2013 Present) in Kashmir, Jammu and\nKashmir. &nbsp;An internet shutdown was\nimposed on 4th August 2019, when Article 370 of the Constitution was abrogated\nby the Parliament of India. There was a Presidential order 272 dated 5th August\n2019 which stated this. The beginning of the communication blockade saw\nlandlines as well as Mobile services restricted, the ban on landlines was\nlifted but suspension of mobile internet continues in the valley.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"727\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3-2.jpg?resize=727%2C427&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"https:\/\/internetshutdowns.in\/img\/trends\/types-of-shutdown-jan-8-2019.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-54290\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The\nSupreme court Verdict:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The Supreme Court\npronounced judgment in&nbsp;<strong>Anuradha Bhasin v UoI and Gulam Nabi Azad v\nUoI <\/strong>on January 10, 2020.<\/li><li>The judgment has laid\ndown the law on the issue of Internet shutdowns.<\/li><li>In the verdict, the Supreme Court\ndeclared that the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression and the\nright to carry on trade or business using the Internet\nare&nbsp;constitutionally protected.<\/li><li><strong>Access to the Internet and exercise of fundamental\nrights:&nbsp;<\/strong>The Supreme Court has\nrecognised&nbsp;that the right to freedom of speech and expression&nbsp;under\nArticle 19(1)(a), and the right to carry on any trade or business under\n19(1)(g), using the medium of internet is&nbsp;constitutionally\nprotected.&nbsp;This declaration would make it easier to challenge shutdown\norders in future.<\/li><li><strong>Orders to be published:&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/li><li>The Court also emphasised on the need for transparency and\nhas mandated that shutdown orders need to be published. The biggest obstacle in\nchallenging shutdown orders in the past was the lack of transparency. <\/li><li>This will go a long way in ensuring that\nthe&nbsp;suspension&nbsp;orders can be challenged under Art.226 of the\nConstitution before the concerned High Courts.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Reasoned order to be passed:&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/li><li>The Court held that Rule 2(2) of\nthe&nbsp;Telecom&nbsp;Suspension Rules,&nbsp;2017&nbsp;requires every order\npassed by the competent authority to be a reasoned order. <\/li><li>The Court further held that if\nan&nbsp;authorized&nbsp;officer is passing the order in unavoidable\ncircumstances, the&nbsp;officer&nbsp;should indicate the necessity of the\nmeasure as well as the \u201cunavoidable\u201d circumstance necessitating\nhis&nbsp;passing&nbsp;such an order.<\/li><li><strong>Proportionality principle:&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/li><li><strong>T<\/strong>he\ncourt makes clear that the constitutional validity of an Internet shutdown has\nto be adjudicated in accordance with the doctrine of \u201cproportionality\u201d. <\/li><li>The\ndoctrine of proportionality requires the court to ask whether a violation of\nrights is \u201cproportionate\u201d to the goal or the purpose that the State wants to\nachieve.<\/li><li>The\nState must demonstrate that the method it has chosen is the \u201cleast intrusive\u201d\none. In order to tackle cross-border terrorism and online radicalisation, one\ndoes not place an entire people under a communications lockdown. <\/li><li>The\ndoctrine of proportionality ensures that it is not enough for the State to\nsimply cite law and order concerns.<\/li><li><strong>Suspension to be temporary&nbsp;in\nnature:&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/li><li>The Court held that suspending internet services indefinitely\nis impermissible.&nbsp;<\/li><li>It directed that the review committee must meet within 7 days\nof the previous review and look into compliance with requirements of Section\n5(2) of the Telegraph Act as well as the proportionality of orders.<\/li><li><strong>Orders under Section 144 of Cr.P.C to\nstate material facts:&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/li><li>The court held that power under Section 144 of CRPC is\nremedial as well as preventive and can be exercised when there is both a\npresent danger as well as apprehension of danger. <\/li><li>Section 144 cannot be used to suppress expression of opinion.\nAny order passed under Section 144 should state material facts to enable\njudicial review. <\/li><li>The Court held that there shouldn&#8217;t be repetitive use of\nSection 144 as well as it would amount to abuse of power.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Challenges:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>It states categorically that an\nindefinite ban on the Internet is impermissible, but fails to direct the\nrestoration of services in J&amp;K.<\/li><li>SC\u2019s judgment also&nbsp;does not provide\nimmediate relief.&nbsp;It leaves the door open for the executive to argue that\nthese orders are justified on security grounds, and for another, perhaps\nprolonged, the legal process for the full resumption of rights.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Way\nForward:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the\njudgment has not given any immediate relief to the people in Kashmir affected\nby the shutdown, we hope that the Internet blockade in Kashmir will be lifted\nat the earliest based on the law laid down in the judgment. The positive aspect\nof the judgment is that the Apex Court has laid down the law on Internet\nshutdowns with emphasis on proportionality and reasonableness. The need to\nissue reasoned orders along with the mandate to make all orders public could\nresult in reduction of arbitrary shutdowns. Removing the veil of secrecy from\nshutdowns itself could help in reducing the number of shutdowns. The number of\nshutdowns in 2020 would determine whether this judgment has helped in\nprotecting the rights of the citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source:\n<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/columns\/the-value-of-the-sc-s-kashmir-order-opinion\/story-AQBLRCMYZ2mkAhVWWiMnIL.html\">https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/columns\/the-value-of-the-sc-s-kashmir-order-opinion\/story-AQBLRCMYZ2mkAhVWWiMnIL.html<\/a><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context: Supreme Court verdict on internet shutdown in Kashmir. More in news: Internet services in Jammu and Kashmir (J&amp;K) are shut since the abrogation of&nbsp;Article 370&nbsp;on August 5 last year Recently, the Supreme Court gave a judgement in response to petitions filed against the Internet shutdown and curbing of other civil liberties in the Jammu&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-the-value-of-the-scs-kashmir-order-13th-january-2020\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">7 PM |The value of the SC\u2019s Kashmir order| 13th January 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,955],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-pm","category-7-pm-brief-infograph","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704843288},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}