New Delhi, July 26 -- By the time mobile-internet services in parts of central Delhi around Jantar Mantar were restored on Saturday, it had been a five-day suspension, the longest recorded anywhere in the national Capital by a wide margin. The restoration came shortly after Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced his resignation on X and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) called off its protest, stating that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had agreed to its demands. Earlier in the day, authorities issued a seventh order extending the suspension of mobile-internet services around JantarMantar until midnight, taking the total duration of repeated disruptions in the area to five days. Prior to this episode, the longest such stint of localised internet blackouts lasted less than a day, occurring during last during the 2021 farmers' protest. The Capital has never recorded a citywide internet restriction. Services were restored well before the scheduled midnight deadline. However, telecom service providers (TSPs) had not received any formal order revoking the suspension until late Saturday evening, said people aware of the matter. Over the five-day period, July 21 was the only day on which the government did not issue a suspension order. The shutdown began on July 20, when the government directed TSPs, including Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea, to suspend mobile-internet services from 10am to 6pm in parts of central Delhi around Jantar Mantar. A second order followed on July 22, directing operators to suspend services from 6pm until 6am the next morning. On July 23, the government extended the suspension from 9.30am to 4.30pm before issuing another order extending it until midnight. On Friday, authorities again suspended mobile internet until noon before issuing a sixth order extending the shutdown until midnight. The seventh order was issued on Saturday morning. The directives required telecom companies to suspend mobile-internet services within a 1.5km radius of the protest site. Among the affected areas were Janpath Market near Connaught Place, Le Meridien, Shangri-La hotel, the National Media Centre, and the Indian Women's Press Corps office. Digital rights organisation Software Freedom Law Center India (SFLC.in) challenged the internet shutdown orders before the Delhi high court, arguing that the suspension of mobile-internet services in parts of central Delhi during the July 2026 protests was unlawful. While Delhi has experienced internet shutdowns previously, earlier disruptions were shorter and linked to specific law-and-order situations. In December 2019, mobile-internet services were suspended for several hours in parts of the capital during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). That shutdown was ordered by Delhi Police, which is empowered to direct telecom operators to suspend services under temporary telecom suspension rules. Another instance occurred during the farmers' protests in January 2021, when the government suspended mobile-internet services in adjoining areas of Delhi. The suspension was later extended to border protest sites, including Singhu, Ghazipur, and Tikri, as the agitation continued. Unlike the 2019 and 2021 disruptions, the recent shutdown was extended through multiple consecutive government orders over several days....