Private school association moves Supreme court For the restoration of 4G network in Jammu and Kashmir which directly affects schools students Admin Mon, Jan 25, 2021, at ,02:39 PM The Private Schools Association of Jammu and Kashmir has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking the restoration of 4G internet services in the state, which have been suspended since the abrogation of J&K's special status on August 5, 2019. Our students have been suffering since 5 August 2019 due to prolonged school closures which were first imposed in the aftermath of abrogation of Article 370 and then extended on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. The children of Jammu & Kashmir have already lost two academic years because it is impossible to conduct online classes using video-conferencing tools like Zoom or WebEx at 2G mobile internet speed,” the association pleaded in the petition. The association, having 3800 schools as members, states that due to the disruption of online classes, students in J&K are at a competitive disadvantage when compared to students from the other parts of the country. It may be noted that this will be the third round of litigation in the Supreme Court seeking restoration of 4G internet services in the state since August 2019. The first batch of cases, filed soon after the repeal of the J&K's special status, resulted in the judgment of Anuradha Bhasin v Union of India in January 2020. Though the judgment waxed eloquent about the necessity of the internet for freedom of speech and expression and trade and also about the principles of proportionality, it did not direct the immediate restoration of internet services and relegated the matter to the Central Government for review.