Internet a luxury or need?

It's quarantine season and what has come to our rescue is the "INTERNET" but is it a luxury or a need?

Imagine a time like this when everyone is glued to their mobile sets and getting entertained throughout the day but can we imagine a day without internet access? What a nightmare it will be right? amidst the lockdown due to the Novel CoronaVirus 2019, the situation made me ponder over certain necessities of life and internet has indeed become one no doubt! The days are gone when the children of my age (although I'm not much old, 🤭) used to go to the playgrounds, did some physical exercise but the millennials are happy with playing games but on mobile, Laptops etc. Even I have to attend online lectures provided by our College. Well enough of moral schooling I just wanted to tell that even our Supreme Court declared the Internet to be a fundamental right. Yes, you heard it right for those who were not aware of the ruling, you will be acquainted with the key aspects at the end of my blog!

In a notable ruling, the Supreme Court of India said that access to the Internet is a fundamental right under the Article 19  of the Indian Constitution.
A five-judge bench gave the verdict based on a bunch of pleas which challenged the legitimacy of the internet curbs imposed by the centre on account of abrogation of provisions under Article 370 last year in August.

The paradise of Earth "Jammu and Kashmir" has always been etched with violence. militancy. While the Himalayas spread tranquility yet the blood was shed everyday.

The Genesis of the issue started when the Article 272 of Constitution and sec 144 of CRPC was imposed restricting movement and public gathering. Seeing the petitions regarding the telecommunications blackouts the supreme court said that, "  the ban couldn't go indefinitely and such orders should be published beforehand with the rationale specifically mentioned and should be proportional to the concerns necessitating such a suspension". Further, the bench said that backed by legitimate reasons the suspension should be checked and reviewed after seven days making the process more transparent and more checks and balances that it previously had.In it's 130 page judgement the Apex court held that the freedom of speech and expression and the freedom to carry on trade or profession through internet is a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution and any suspension under Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services Rules, 2017 can only be for a temporary period rather than for an indefinite period which happened in Kashmir last year. Further judgement asserted that  magistrates, while passing prohibitory orders, should apply their mind and follow doctrine of proportionality. This is how the internet became a Fundamental right for the citizens of India.

One cannot deny the fact that Internet connects people, lives, businesses and stories. It is a source of information for some and a source of entertainment, a social platform to express themselves or a business platform. It has diverse uses depending upon the needs of an individual.
The Supreme Court Judgement came in sync in with the United Nations recommendation that every country should make internet a fundamental right.

Now coming back to this present lockdown period when we are made to quarantine ourselves and heavy restrictions are placed on our movements work has been restrained and people are lying idle at home. It is really startling to imagine living without the internet. Although it started as a luxury but with the ever multiplying  technology market structure internet has become a basis of our day to day
activities and it is unthinkable to cope up with the pace of the modern world without internet.
We can thus very well conclude that the internet has become an indispensable part of life and it is no exaggeration to say that it is a need not a luxury.

Avinash Kumar