The Supreme Court of India upheld the districts and states' right to ban mobile Internet services to maintain law and order, reports the Economic Times. Earlier in 2015, the Gujarat government had banned mobile Internet usage in the wake of the protests by the Patel community for reservation. During the time, the police invoked Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) that allows local law administration to ban unlawful assembly and justify short bans on Internet services. This was challenged in court by student-activist Gaurav Sureshbhai Vyas and represented by lawyer Apar Gupta. However, a bench of comprising of chief justice of India TS Thakur and Justice R Banumathi, dismissed it saying "It becomes very necessary sometimes for law and order." Gupta contended that Section 144 of the CrPC comes under general law and that there were already provisions in the Indian Telegraph Act which prescribes the government can block specific sites. Gupta argued that a blanket ban on Internet services was not justified. Vyas' petition also argued that the ban on mobile Internet services was irrational as broadband players were kept out of its ambit. The petition also said that the ban infringes on Freedom of expression. Also read: HTTP 451 error code now the standard for legally blocked content and On Internet bans in India and the “Internet kill switch” Other mobile Internet bans Over the last year, there have been several bans on mobile Internet to maintain law and order by many state governments. - In December 2015, the Rajasthan police banned the…
