A public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the suspension of mobile Internet services around Jantar Mantar during the recent student protest was withdrawn from the Delhi High Court on Monday, days after the agitation ended following the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The matter came up before a Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, where counsel for the petitioner, Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC), sought permission to withdraw the petition. The court accordingly disposed of the plea as withdrawn.

The petition had sought quashing of six orders issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs between July 17 and July 23 suspending mobile Internet services, contending that they were unconstitutional and violative of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution. It had also sought a direction requiring the publication of all future Internet suspension orders.

According to the plea, the MHA had suspended mobile Internet services within a 1.5-km radius of Jantar Mantar by invoking Section 20(2)(b) of the Telecommunications Act, 2023, read with the Telecommunications (Temporary Suspension of Services) Rules, 2024.

The petitioner argued that the suspension orders merely repeated the statutory expressions “public safety” and “public emergency” without disclosing any objective material or explaining why a blanket Internet shutdown was warranted. It further contended that the authorities had failed to examine less restrictive alternatives, including regular policing, crowd-control measures and targeted enforcement. The plea also alleged that the suspension orders were issued by an under-secretary instead of the competent authority prescribed under the rules.