The Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government objected to the Centre’s move of invoking its special powers to ban mobile internet services in three districts of the state.
The Centre used its special powers under a British-era law, Telegraph Act 1886, to suspend mobile internet services in Patiala, Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib from February 12 to 16, citing public emergency and law-and-order concerns on the basis of Intelligence Bureau (IB) reports.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann during the meeting between Union ministers and farm leaders in Chandigarh on Thursday objected to the Centre’s actions.
“Punjab government has categorically conveyed to the three Union ministers that using special powers of the Telegraph Act without consulting the state has given a signal that the Centre was bypassing an elected government and using its powers as if the state was a union territory,” a state government official, who was part of the meeting, confirmed to HT through a text message.
‘Rarest-of rare instance’
Home department officials, however, revealed that there was no provision under the law to inform the state if the Centre wants to ban internet services in any state.
A senior Punjab government functionary said that as law-and-order is a state subject, the Centre’s move on Thursday can be seen as a rarest-of-rare case when the Union government issued internet suspension orders outside the National Capital, using provisions of Telegraph Act 1886.
The special powers were used to ban mobile internet in Delhi during protests against the Citizen Amendment Act.
{{/usCountry}}The special powers were used to ban mobile internet in Delhi during protests against the Citizen Amendment Act.
{{/usCountry}}According to the procedure followed generally, the orders to ban mobile internet are issued by the home department in case of emergency and law-and-order problems. This procedure was adopted when the state recently witnessed internet ban during the crackdown on pro-Khalistan outfit Waris Punjab De led by Amritpal Singh.
Interestingly, in Haryana, the current internet ban order, has been issued by the state home department.
MHA issued orders on Feb 12
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued two orders under Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017, on February 12, banning internet in areas falling under the jurisdiction of 11 police stations in Patiala, Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib districts. These include Shatrana, Samana, Ghanour, Devigarh and Balbhera in Patiala and
Khanauri, Moonak, Lehra, Sunam, Chajli in Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib in Fatehgarh Sahib.
The MHA issued another notification on ban on mobile internet in certain areas in Bathinda, Mansa and Barnala districts but ground reports say the ban lasted only for a few hours. According to a government official from Bathinda, only mobile network of BSNL has been banned in Sangat region.
The notification regarding the ban says, “In exercise of the power conferred by Section 7 of Indian Telegraph
Act, 1885, read with Sub-rule 1 of Rule 2 of the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules 2017, and in the interest of maintaining public safety and averting public emergency, it is necessary and expedient to order, the temporary suspension of internet services from 18:00 hours on February 12, 2024, to 23:59 hours on February 16, 2024, in certain areas.”