The Supreme Court, on Thursday, directed the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to file a counter affidavit within one week in response to the contempt petition filed by the Foundation for Media Professionals (FMP) in the Jammu and Kashmir 4G restoration case. The government maintained that it was not in contempt of the apex court’s directions. As per the official record of proceedings, the matter will now be listed on July 23. A bench of Justices N.V. Ramana, R. Subhash Reddy and B.R. Gavai heard the case but refused to issue notice, LiveLaw reported. ‘Govt has not complied with SC orders,’ argues petitioner Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, on behalf of FMP, argued that the government had defied the Supreme Court’s order, and that the petitioners had received no response from the government about the status of the Special Committee despite FMP sending them two letters — on May 16 and May 28. Ahmadi also highlighted the plight of people in Jammu and Kashmir who have not had access to education and telemedicine services because of throttled speeds, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘Special Committee has met twice,’ says govt Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, on behalf of the Indian government, said that the Special Committee had already been constituted and had met twice — May 15 and June 10 —, the Internet Freedom Foundation said in its blog. He reportedly said that although the Committee had been analysing the impact of…
