The restoration of mobile services in Balochistan was underway on Thursday after the Balochistan High Court (BHC) ordered their immediate resumption, ending a 15-day suspension.
Earlier this month, mobile data services in the province were announced to be suspended until August 31 over “security reasons”. Balochistan’s Consumer Civil Society chairman, Khair Muhammad Shaheen, had filed a constitutional petition against the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and others regarding the suspension of mobile phone internet services.
The petition argued that the mobile phone services were a basic mode of communication for businessmen, students, educational institutions and others. It added that the suspension constituted a violation of fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 9 (security of person), 15 (freedom of movement etc), 18 (freedom of trade, business and profession), 19-A (right to information) and 25 (equality of citizens) of the Constitution.
A two-member BHC bench, comprising Chief Justice Rozi Khan Barrech and Justice Sardar Ahmed Halimi, conducted the first hearing on the petition on August 13, ordering the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan and Balochistan Advocate General Adnan Basharat to file their replies on the shutdown of internet services in the province.
The same bench heard the case today, ruling that mobile internet services must be restored in Quetta within two hours.
Following the court’s order, mobile internet service has been restored in Quetta and some areas of Pishin and Chaman. Services will be fully restored in Dalbandin, Pishin, Chaman and Taftan within the next two hours, according to PTA officials.
“Orders related to mobile internet restoration are being implemented,” said PTA Director Jamil Ahmed, who appeared in the court when the hearing resumed after a break.
He added that internet services had been restored in some districts, but added that it “takes some time to restore the system”.
The hearing was adjourned until August 25, with the Chief Justice Barrech adding that if mobile internet was not restored by that date, the PTA secretary would be found in contempt of court.
In recent months, the security situation in Balochistan has worsened, as militants, long involved in a low-level insurgency, have stepped up the frequency and intensity of their attacks.
In November of last year, the PTA had announced the government’s decision to suspend internet and mobile services with immediate effect in many districts of Balochistan to ensure public safety, in the wake of terrorist attacks in the province and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.