[BREAKING] Calcutta High Court stays West Bengal internet shutdown

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday stayed the order passed by the State government to shut down internet services in seven districts of West Bengal between March 7 and March 16 [Ashlesh Biradar vs State of West Bengal]..The order was stayed by a Bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj..The decision was purportedly taken by the State to prevent mass cheating in the upcoming State board exams. It sought to suspend internet services in Malda, Murshidabad, Uttar Dinajpur, Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Birbhum, and Darjeeling..The internet shutdown was challenged by Ashlesh Biradar of Internet Freedom Foundation of India (IFFI), who argued in his plea that such a notification could not have been issued by the State under Section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)..It was also contended that the State's order was against Supreme Court's judgment in Anuradha Bhasin v Union of India, and violate the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 19(1)(g) [freedom to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business] of the Constitution of India.The plea further stated that such restriction is against the children's right to education under Article 21A, as classes are being conducted through online mode due to the COVID-19 pandemic..When the matter was taken up for hearing yesterday, Advocate General SN Mookherjee submitted that the March 3 order was passed not only under Section 144 CrPC, but also under Rule 2(1) of the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Service) Rules, 2017, in accordance with law. He also revealed that a meeting of the review committee in terms of Rule 2(6) of the 2017 Rules was scheduled for Thursday at 11 am, and sought time to file a reply to the petition.The Court had then adjourned the matter to Thursday, on which date it directed for a stay on the order..Senior Advocate Ranjan Bachawat along with Advocates Manoj Tiwari, Sarosit Dasgupta, Vrinda Bhandari, Tanmay Singh, Shwetank Ginodia, Satyki Mukherjee and Abhinav Sekhri appeared for the petitioner.AG Mookherjee was assisted by Advocates Samrat Sen, Anirban Roy, Debashis Ghosh and Nilotpal Chatterjee..[Read the order dated March 10]