Mobile internet service was temporarily shut down in the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR) for 48 hours beginning at 5 p.m. on January 12th, prior to a 36-hour bandh imposed by an organisation beginning on January 13th.
It threw life into disarray while also violating the established laws. Yanam (name changed) is a master’s student at Rajiv Gandhi University who is also studying for the civil services exam online.

She was one of many students who missed online coaching classes as a result of the internet outage.
She claimed that the shutdown had an impact on her online reading as well as her ability to communicate with friends and family and access information via social networking sites.

“(I) missed classes. I was unable to read online and get news updates due to the internet blackout,” she said. “I missed an important national level seminar on right to food issue. The files were stored in cloud and I could not open them due to the shutdown,” said Itanagar Permanent Bench of Gauhati High Court lawyer Madan Milli.

Another person said that, in general, the shutdown affected the people at all levels. “Internet is a must for everyone, especially for those students who are preparing for various examinations, CBSE examinations, and attending classes online,” she said.

She stated that the students are concerned because their courses may not be completed in time for the exams. The CBSE Term 2 board examinations for 2022 are set to begin in March. She went on to say that, because of the Covid pandemic, people don’t keep much money on them and all transactions are done online.

“They were unable to send or receive money due to the power outage,” she reasoned. She, on the other hand, stated that the shutdown had little impact on her because she had other ways to keep herself busy.

When asked how the internet outage impacted his department, ICR DMO Dr Mandip Perme stated that the health department was unable to receive district-level data on ongoing Covid-19 testing and Covid-19-related vaccination due to the outage.

“Many of the staffers faced difficulty receiving and sending the district-wise data due to the shutdown,” he said.

Dr. L Jampa, the state epidemiologist, expressed regret that he was unable to share the daily Covid bulletin with the media due to the internet outage. The last-minute shutdown order issued on January 12 brought all internet-based services to a halt, causing significant inconvenience to users. The order was issued to “prevent the occurrence of serious law and order problems during the bandh.”

According to the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, which were introduced in 2017 under the Telecom Regulatory Act, 1885, a shutdown order can only be issued by the home secretary to the government of India or a state government in the event of a ‘public emergency’ or in the ‘interest of public safety.’

“In unavoidable circumstances, where obtaining of prior direction is not feasible, such order may be issued by an officer not below the rank of a joint secretary to the government of India or the state home secretary in the states,” the rule says.

The reason for the decision must be included in the order (to shut down the internet). The shutdown order, according to the rule, must be sent to a review committee the day after it is issued and must be reviewed by the committee within five days to determine the validity of the reason. In the case of states, the chairman of such a review committee will be the chief secretary. Many people are likely unaware of this rule, but they should be.

The first known internet shutdown in India occurred in 2012, for a few hours in what was then Jammu and Kashmir. According to Internetshutdown.in, which has been tracking mobile internet shutdowns in India since 2012, the country has seen a total of 552 shutdowns since then. Last year, mobile internet was shut down 45 times in India.

With six instances of internet outage, Arunachal Pradesh ranks 11th among Indian states and UTs. During the anti-PRC agitation in the ICR in 2019, the internet was shut down for several days. Nowadays, the internet is also turned off during some competitive examinations in the capital area to prevent cheating.

A day’s or even an hour’s internet outage can cause massive economic losses in the lakhs of crores of rupees. According to Internetshutdown.in, India will lose approximately $ 582.8 million due to internet shutdowns in 2021. Aside from the general public, students, and business community, journalists and media outlets face significant challenges during such shutdowns.

During the anti-PRC riots, media representatives came to the civil secretariat to file stories after the internet was cut off for several days. Some media outlets had even halted publication for a few days. During the previous shutdown, media outlets faced a similar problem in releasing their daily newspapers.

Because freedom of the press, access to information, and conducting business over the internet are all fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, it is obvious that such shutdowns violate people’s constitutional rights at times, if not all of the time.

How far was it justifiable to cut off mobile internet during the pandemic? How far can it be justified when students attend classes online, Covid vaccination registration is done online, and vital health-related information is sent and received via the internet?

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