Zimbabwe's High Court has ruled that the government, through the state minister, had no authority to order mobile operators to shut down internet access to customers during protests against high fuel prices last week, news agency Reuters reports.

"It has become very clear that the minister has no authority to make the directive," Judge Owen Tagu said in a ruling.

Rights groups had gone to court to oppose the government directive on grounds that it infringed on the constitutional rights of freedom of expression and freedom of the media.