The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Centre on a petition challenging the Government's move to cap the number of SMSs to 200 per day per SIM card.
Seeking a stay on the SMS ceiling, the public interest litigation filed by the Mr Anil Kumar, Secretary of the NGO Telecom Watchdog, had alleged that the Government's restriction on short message services (SMSs) was done under the garb of controlling unsolicited commercial communications.
The Centre and the telecom regulator TRAI will have to file their reply within a fortnight. The court will take up the matter again on January 18, 2012.
The petitioner said, “SMS cap has been imposed in a non-transparent as prior consultation with all the stakeholders is necessary to fulfil the requirement of transparency mandated under the TRAI Act.”
Advocate Mr Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioner, alleged that such a cap violates the sanctity of democratic norms and right to freedom of speech and expression and democratic rights of the citizens.