QUETTA:
After two weeks of suspension, mobile internet services were restored across Balochistan on Thursday on the orders of Balochistan High Court (BHC).
A two-judge division bench of the BHC — comprising Chief Justice Rozi Khan Bareech and Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem — directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to restore internet connectivity across the province.
PTA officials assured the court that services would be fully restored within two hours, and areas without security threats regained access right away.
The bench issued the order on a constitutional petition filed by Consumer Civil Society Chairman Khair Muhammad Shaheen, who argued that the mobile internet services were a basic mode of communication for businessmen, students, educational institutions, and others.
The petitioner further argued that the suspension constituted a violation of fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 9, 15, 18, 19-A and 25 of the Constitution.
Mobile data services in the volatile province were suspended by the PTA on the provincial government’s orders on August 6 until August 31 over security reasons.
Daily life was severely disrupted as students, health professionals, journalists and businessmen complained that the shutdown affected education, healthcare, business and routine communication.
