Imphal, July 8: To facilitate limited access to internet services for the public, the Manipur High Court on Friday (July 7) directed the Home Department of Manipur government to lift the ban on internet through Internet Lease Lines (ILLs) throughout the state.
The direction was passed by the Division Bench of the Manipur HC, consisting of Justices Ahanthem Bimol Singh and A. Guneshwar Sharma, which heard a batch of petitions seeking restoration of internet services in Manipur, which has been under an internet shutdown since May 3 when ethnic conflict broke out in Manipur.
Some of the safeguards agreed to by the Expert Committee and put forth by the State government for internet access to be restored include limiting the speed to 10MB/s, securing undertakings from intended users that they will not do anything illegal, and subjecting the users to “physical monitoring by the concerned authority/officials”.
“The State Government, more particularly, the Home Department is directed to lift the ban on providing internet service through Internet Lease Line (ILL) throughout the whole State after ensuring that all the stakeholders have complied with the safeguards given by the Expert Committee mentioned hereinabove,” the Court order stated.
The court noted that the Commissioner (Home) and all expert members present at the hearing were of the unanimous view that “there will be no problem or difficulty in lifting of the ban in respect of the Internet Lease Line (ILL) by ensuring and following the safeguards given by the expert members mentioned here in above.”
 directed the Home Department of Manipur government to lift the ban on internet through Internet Lease Lines (ILLs) throughout the state.){kind=link}