A petition has been filed before the Calcutta High Court challenging the decision of the State government to suspend internet services in seven districts of Bengal between March 7 and March 16 [Ashlesh Biradar vs State of West Bengal]..The decision by the State was taken to prevent mass cheating in the upcoming State board exams. The districts in which the internet will be suspended are Malda, Murshidabad, Uttar Dinajpur, Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Birbhum, and Darjeeling..The plea before the High Court has said that such a notification could not have been issued under Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code. .The matter is slated to be heard tomorrow by a bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj..The additional chief secretary (Home and Hill Affairs) had announced on March 6 that curbs will be imposed on internet in certain blocks in seven districts."The restriction will be imposed in a few blocks under the districts of Malda, Murshidabad, Uttar Dinajpur, Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Birbhum and Darjeeling on March 7 to 9, March 11 and 12 and on March 15 and 16 from 11:00 am to 3:15 pm," the statement said..However, no restrictions have been imposed on voice calls or the sending of SMS, it had been clarified.
