Assam HC dismisses govt plea against resuming internet

The Gauhati High Court on Friday dismissed a review petition filed by the Assam government against its order to resume mobile internet from Thursday evening. Though the Gauhati High Court ordered to resume the service from 5 pm on Thursday, the government did not issue any instruction to the mobile operators to implement it.

Mobile internet services were restored in Assam on Friday morning, ten days after it was suspended to prevent misuse of social media during a protest against the contentious amended Citizenship Act.

A Division Bench of Justices Manojit Bhuyan and Soumitra Saikia heard the arguments of the government and dismissed the review petition. In the morning, the state government filed the review petition in the Gauhati High Court and urged for an urgent listing.

Accepting the government's plea, the HC listed the case for hearing on Friday afternoon. The same bench had on Thursday directed resumption of mobile internet from 5 pm yesterday after hearing four PILs filed by journalist Ajit Kumar Bhuyan and advocates Bonoshri Gogoi, Randeep Sharma and Debakanta Doley.