Plea in Delhi HC challenges internet shutdown around Jantar Mantar protest site
Legal services organisation Software Freedom Law Centre, India, on Friday (July 24, 2026) moved the Delhi High Court against the suspension of mobile internet services
Legal services organisation Software Freedom Law Centre, India, on Friday (July 24, 2026) moved the Delhi High Court against the suspension of mobile internet services in parts of Central Delhi amid the ongoing CJP-led protest at Jantar Mantar. The counsel for the petitioner mentioned the plea for urgent hearing before a bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, which agreed to list it on Friday (July 24).
The plea, however, could not be listed during court hours due to certain defects. Software Freedom Law Centre, India (SFLC.In), in its petition, sought quashing and setting aside of orders issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on July 17, 20, 22 and 23 to shut down mobile internet services in parts of central Delhi. The petition said temporary suspension of telecommunication services, including mobile internet services, was “one of the most extraordinary coercive powers conferred upon the Executive” as it interferes with the exercise of freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution.
Terming the suspension orders “illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional”, the petitioner said they neither disclose any public emergency nor provide the reasons to demonstrate why a blanket suspension of mobile internet services was necessary or proportionate to any alleged threat. “The present challenge arises from the Impugned Orders issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs directing suspension of all mobile internet technologies within a radius of approximately 1.5 kilometres from Jantar Mantar, New Delhi,” the plea said.
“The repeated issuance of six separate suspension orders over a span of seven days further underscores the necessity of examining whether each exercise of statutory power was independently undertaken in accordance with Section 20(2)(b),” it added.
The BriefWire