New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday said the government should have put the decision of the special committee, constituted on the court's directive, to not resume 4G internet in Jammu and Kashmir in the public domain.
The court was hearing a contempt petition that sought action against government officials for allegedly defying the court's order to form the committee.
A special bench led by Justice N.V. Ramana told the central government's counsel Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, “If you have complied with the orders given in May, then it is needed to be published in public domain.”
On 11 May, the top court had directed the government to constitute a high-powered committee to look into the issue of restoring 4G internet services in J&K. The committee was tasked to determine the necessity of continued restriction of mobile internet speed to only 2G bandwidth there.
While declining to order restoration of 4G services, the court had said that a “special committee,” which is separate from the “review committee” prescribed under the Temporary Telecom Suspension Rules 2017, was necessary.
However, a contempt petition filed by the Foundation for Media Professionals claims that no such committee was formed, 29 days after the order was issued.
The bench gave the government and the union territory administration a week's time to file its response to the contempt petition. It, however, refrained from issuing a formal notice to the central government, as pressed by the petitioner's counsel.
