INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACT, 2000

21 of 2000

June 9, 2000

Received the assent of the President on June 9, 2000 and published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 1, dated 9th June, 2000, pp. 1-32, Sl. No. 10 An Act to provide legal recognition for transactions carried out by means of electronic data interchange and other means of electronic communication, commonly referred to as "electronic commerce", which involve the use of alternatives to paper-based methods of communication and storage of information, to facilitate electronic filing of documents with the Government agencies and further to amend the Indian Penal Code, I860, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891 and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Whereas the General Assembly of the United Nations by resolution A/RES/51/162, dated the 30th January, 1997 has adopted the Model Law on Electronic Commerce adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law; And whereas the said resolution recommends inter alia that all States give favourable consideration to the said Model Law when they enact or revise their laws, in view of the need for uniformity of the law applicable to alternatives to paper-based methods of communication and storage of information; And whereas it is considered necessary to give effect to the said resolution and to promote efficient delivery of Government services by means of reliable electronic records; Be it enacted by Parliament in the Fifty-first Year of the Republic of India as follows:— Prefatory Note—State of Objects and Reasons.—New communication systems and digital technology have made dramatic changes in the way we live. A revolution is occurring in the way people transact business. Businesses and consumers are increasingly using computers to create, transmit and store information in the electronic form instead of traditional paper documents. Information stored in electronic form has many advantages. It is cheaper, easier to store, retrieve and speedier to communicate. Although people are aware of these advantages they are reluctant to conduct business or conclude any transaction in the electronic form due to lack of appropriate legal framework. The two principal hurdles which stand in the way of facilitating electronic commerce and electronic governance are the requirements as to writing and signature for legal recognition. At present many legal provisions assume the existence of paper based records and documents and records which should bear signatures. The Law of Evidence is traditionally based upon paper based records and oral testimony. Since electronic commerce eliminates the need for paper based transactions, hence to facilitate e-commerce, the need for legal changes have become an urgent necessity. International trade through the medium of e-commerce is growing rapidly in the past few years and many countries have switched over from traditional paper based commerce to e-commerce. 2. The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) adopted the Model Law on Electronic Commerce in 1996. The General Assembly of United Nations by its Resolution No. 51/162 dated 30th January, 1997 recommended that all States should give favourable considerations to the said Model Law when they enact or revise their laws. The Model Law provides for equal legal treatment of users of electronic communication and paper based communication. Pursuant to a recent declaration by member countries, the World Trade Organisation is likely to form a work programme to handle its work in this area including the possible creation of multilateral trade deals through the medium of electronic commerce. 3. There is a need for bringing in suitable amendments in the existing laws in our country to facilitate e-commerce. It is, therefore, proposed to provide for legal recognition of electronic records and digital signatures. This will enable the conclusion of contracts and the creation of rights and obligations through the electronic medium. It is also proposed to provide for a regulatory regime to supervise the Certifying Authorities issuing Digital Signature Certificates. To prevent the possible misuse arising out of transactions and other dealings concluded over the electronic medium, it is also proposed to create civil and criminal liabilities for contravention of the provisions of the proposed legislation. 4. With a view to facilitate Electronic Governance, it is proposed to provide for the use and acceptance of electronic records and digital signatures in the Government offices and its agencies. This will make the citizens interaction with the Governmental offices hassle free. 5. It is also proposed to make consequential amendments in the Indian Penal Code and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 to provide for necessary changes in the various provisions which deal with offences relating to documents and paper based transactions. It is also proposed to amend the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 to facilitate electronic fund transfers between the financial institutions and banks and the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891 to give legal sanctity for books of account maintained in the electronic form by the banks. 6. The proposal was also circulated to the State Governments. They have supported the proposed legislation and have also expressed urgency for such legislation. 7. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objectives.

SECTION 01: SHORT TITLE, EXTENT, COMMENCEMENT AND APPLICATION

(1) This Act may be called the Information Technology Act, 2000.

(2) It shall extend to the whole of India and, save as otherwise provided in this Act, it applies also to any offence or contravention thereunder committed outside India by any person.

(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification, appoint and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act and any reference in any such provision to the commencement of this Act shall be construed as a reference to the commencement of that provision.

(4) Nothing in this Act shall apply to,— 

1 "(a) a negotiable instrument (other than a cheque) as defined in Section 13 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (26 of 1881); 

(b) a power of attorney as defined in Section 1-A of the Power of Attorney Act, 1882 (7 of 1882) ; 

(c) a trust as defined in Section 3 of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 (2 of 1882) ; 

(d) a will as defined in clause (h) of Section 2 of the Indian Succession Act,

1925 (39 of 1925) including any other testamentary disposition by whatever name called; 

(e) any contract for the sale or conveyance of immovable property or any interest in such property; 

(f) any such class of documents or transactions as may be notified by the Central Government in the Official Gazette. 

SECTION 02: DEFINITIONS 

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— 

(a) "access" with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions means

gaining entry into, instructing or communicating with the logical, arithmetical

or memory function resources of a computer, computer system or computer network; 

(b) "addressee" means a person who is intended by the originator to receive the electronic record but does not include any intermediary; 

(c) "adjudicating officer" means an adjudicating officer appointed under subsection (1) of Section 46 - ; 

(d) "affixing digital signature" with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions means adoption of any methodology or procedure by a person for the purpose of authenticating an electronic record by means of digital signature; 

(e) "appropriate Government" means as respects any matter,— 

(i) enumerated in List II of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution; 

(ii) relating to any State law enacted under List III of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution, the State Government and in any other case, the Central Government; 

(f) "asymmetric crypto system" means a system of a secure key pair consisting of a private key for creating a digital signature and a public key to verify the digital signature; 

(g) "Certifying Authority" means a person who has been granted a licence to issue a Digital Signature Certificate under Section 24 - ; 

(h) "certification practice statement" means a statement issued by a Certifying Authority to specify the practices that the Certifying Authority employs in issuing Digital Signature Certificates; 

(i) "computer" means any electronic, magnetic, optical or other high-speed data processing device or system which performs logical, arithmetic and memory functions by manipulations of electronic, magnetic or optical impulses, and includes all input, output, processing, storage, computer software, or communication facilities which are connected or related to the computer in a computer system or computer network; 

(j) "computer network" means the interconnection of one or more computers through— 

(i) the use of satellite, microwave, terrestrial line or other communication media; and 

(ii) terminals or a complex consisting of two or more interconnected computers whether or not the interconnection is continuously maintained; 

(k) "computer resource" means computer, computer system, computer network, data, computer database or software; 

(l) "computer system" means a device or collection of devices, including input and output support devices and excluding calculators which are not programmable and capable of being used in conjunction with external files, which contain computer programmes, electronic instructions, input data and output data, that performs logic, arithmetic, data storage and retrieval, communication control and other functions; 

(m) "Controller" means the Controller of Certifying Authorities appointed under sub-section (1) of Section 17- ; 

(n) "Cyber Appellate Tribunal" means the Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal established under sub-section (1) of Section 48- ; 

(o) "data" means a representation of information, knowledge, facts, concepts or instructions which are being prepared or have been prepared in a formalised manner, and is intended to be processed, is being processed or has been processed in a computer system or computer network, and may be in any form (including computer printouts magnetic or optical storage media, punched cards, punched tapes) or stored internally in the memory of the computer; 

(p) "digital signature" means authentication of any electronic record by a subscriber by means of an electronic method or procedure in accordance with the provisions of Section 3- ; 

(g) "Digital Signature Certificate" means a Digital Signature Certificate issued under sub-section (4) of Section 35- ; 

(r) "electronic form" with reference to information means any information generated, sent, received or stored in media, magnetic, optical, computer memory, micro film, computer generated micro fiche or similar device; 

(s) "Electronic Gazette" means the Official Gazette published in the electronic form; 

(t) "electronic record" means data, record or data generated, image or sound stored, received or sent in an electronic form or micro film or computer generated micro fiche; 

(u) "function", in relation to a computer, includes logic, control, arithmetical process, deletion, storage and retrieval and communication or telecommunication from or within a computer; 

(v) "information" includes data, text, images, sound, voice, codes, computer programmes, software and databases or micro film or computer generated micro fiche; 

(w) "intermediary" with respect to any particular electronic message means any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits that message or provides any service with respect to that message; 

(x) "key pair" in an asymmetric crypto system, means a private key and its mathematically related public key, which are so related that the public key can verify a digital signature created by the private key; 

(y) "law" includes any Act of Parliament or of a State Legislature, Ordinances promulgated by the President or a Governor, as the case may be. Regulations made by the President under Article 240, Bills enacted as President's Act under sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of Article 357 of the Constitution and includes rules, regulations, bye-laws and orders issued or made thereunder; 

(z) "licence" means a licence granted to a Certifying Authority under Section 24- ; 

(za) "originator" means a person who sends, generates, stores or transmits any electronic message or causes any electronic message to be sent, generated, stored or transmitted to any other person but does not include an intermediary;

(zb) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; 

(zc) "private key" means the key of a key pair used to create a digital signature; 

(zd) "public key" means the key of a key pair used to verify a digital signature and listed in the Digital Signature Certificate; 

(ze) "secure system" means computer hardware, software and procedure that—(a) are reasonably secure from unauthorised access and misuse;  (b) provide a reasonable level of reliability and correct operation;  (c) are reasonably suited to performing the intended functions; and  (d) adhere to generally accepted security procedures; 

(zf) "security procedure" means the security procedure prescribed under Section 16- by the Central Government; 

(zg) "subscriber" means a person in whose name the Digital Signature Certificate is issued; 

(zh) "verify" in relation to a digital signature, electronic record or public key, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions means to determine whether— 

(a) the initial electronic record was affixed with the digital signature by the use of private key corresponding to the public key of the subscriber; 

(b) the initial electronic record is retained intact or has been altered since such electronic record was so affixed with the digital signature. 

(2) Any reference in this Act to any enactment or any provision thereof shall, in relation to an area in which such enactment or such provision is not in force, be construed as a reference to the corresponding law or the relevant provision of the corresponding law, if any, in force in that area. 

SECTION 03: AUTHENTICATION OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS 

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section any subscriber may authenticate an electronic record by affixing his digital signature. 

(2) The authentication of the electronic record shall be effected by the use of asymmetric crypto system and hash function which envelop and transform the initial electronic record into another electronic record. 

Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section, "hash function" means an algorithm mapping or translation of one sequence of bits into another, generally smaller, set known as "hash result" such that an electronic record yields the same hash result every time the algorithm is executed with the same electronic record as its input making it computationally infeasible— 

(a) to derive or reconstruct the original electronic record from the hash result produced by the algorithm; 

(b) that two electronic records can produce the same hash result using the algorithm. 

(3) Any person by the use of a public key of the subscriber can verify the electronic record. 

(4) The private key and the public key are unique to the subscriber and constitute a functioning key pair. 

SECTION 04: LEGAL RECOGNITION OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS 

Where any law provides that information or any other matter shall be in writing or in the typewritten or printed form, then, notwithstanding anything contained in such law, such requirement shall be deemed to have been satisfied if such information or matter is—

(a) rendered or made available in an electronic form; and 

(b) accessible so as to be usable for a subsequent reference. 

SECTION 05: LEGAL RECOGNITION OF DIGITAL SIGNATURES

Where any law provides that information or any other matter shall be authenticated by affixing the signature or any document shall be signed or bear the signature of any person, then, notwithstanding anything contained in such law, such requirement shall be deemed to have been satisfied, if such information or matter is authenticated by means of digital signature affixed in such manner as may be prescribed by the Central Government.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, "signed", with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, shall, with reference to a person, mean affixing of his handwritten signature or any mark on any document and the expression "signature" shall be construed accordingly.

SECTION 06: USE OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS AND DIGITAL SIGNATURES IN GOVERNMENT AND ITS AGENCIES 

(1) Where any law provides for— 

(a) the filing of any form, application or any other document with any office,

authority, body or agency owned or controlled by the appropriate Government in a particular manner; 

(b) the issue or grant of any licence, permit, sanction or approval by whatever name called in a particular manner; 

(c) the receipt or payment of money in a particular manner, then, notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, such requirement shall be deemed to have been satisfied if such filing, issue, grant, receipt or payment, as the case may be, is effected by means of such electronic form as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government. 

(2) The appropriate Government may, for the purposes of sub-section (1), by rules, prescribe— 

(a) the manner and format in which such electronic records shall be filed, created or issued; 

(b) the manner or method of payment of any fee or charges for filing, creation or issue any electronic record under clause (a). 

SECTION 07: RETENTION OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS 

(1) Where any law provides that documents, records or information shall be retained for any specific period, then, that requirement shall be deemed to have been satisfied if such documents, records or information are retained in the electronic form, if— 

(a) the information contained therein remains accessible so as to be usable for a subsequent reference; 

(b) the electronic record is retained in the format in which it was originally generated, sent or received or in a format which can be demonstrated to represent accurately the information originally generated, sent or received; 

(c) the details which will facilitate the identification of the origin, destination, date and time of despatch or receipt of such electronic record are available in the electronic record: 

Provided that this clause does not apply to any information which is automatically generated solely for the purpose of enabling an electronic record to be despatched or received.

(2) Nothing in this section shall apply to any law that expressly provides for the retention of documents, records or information in the form of electronic records. 

SECTION 08: PUBLICATION OF RULE, REGULATION, ETC., IN ELECTRONIC GAZETTE

Where any law provides that any rule, regulation, order, bye-law, notification or any other matter shall be published in the Official Gazette, then, such requirement shall be deemed to have been satisfied if such rule, regulation, order, bye-law, notification or any other matter is published in the Official Gazette or Electronic Gazette: Provided that where any rule, regulation, order, bye-law, notification or any other matter is published in the Official Gazette or Electronic Gazette, the date of publication shall be deemed to be the date of the Gazette which was first published in any form.

SECTION 09: SECTIONS 6, 7 AND 8 NOT TO CONFER RIGHT TO INSIST DOCUMENT SHOULD BE ACCEPTED IN ELECTRONIC FORM

Nothing contained in Sections 6 - , Section 7 - and Section 8 - shall confer a right upon any person to insist that any Ministry or Department of the Central Government or the State Government or any authority or body established by or under any law or controlled or funded by the Central or State Government should accept, issue, create, retain and preserve any document in the form of electronic records or effect any monetary transaction in the electronic form.

SECTION 10: POWER TO MAKE RULES BY CENTRAL GOVERNMENT IN RESPECT OF DIGITAL SIGNATURE 

The Central Government may, for the purposes of this Act, by rules, prescribe—

(a) the type of digital signature; 

(b) the manner and format in which the digital signature shall be affixed; 

(c) the manner or procedure which facilitates identification of the person affixing the digital signature; 

(d) control processes and procedures to ensure adequate integrity, security and confidentiality of electronic records or payments; and 

(e) any other matter which is necessary to give legal effect to digital signatures. 

SECTION 11: ATTRIBUTION OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS 

An electronic record shall be attributed to the originator—

(a) if it was sent by the originator himself; 

(b) by a person who had the authority to act on behalf of the originator in respect of that electronic record; or 

(c) by an information system programmed by or on behalf of the originator to operate automatically. 

SECTION 12: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT 

(1) Where the originator has not agreed with the addressee that the acknowledgment of receipt of electronic record be given in a particular form or by a particular method, an acknowledgement may be given by— 

(a) any communication by the addressee, automated or otherwise; or 

(b) any conduct of the addressee, sufficient to indicate to the originator that the electronic record has been received. 

(2) Where the originator has stipulated that the electronic record shall be binding only on receipt of an acknowledgement of such electronic record by him, then unless acknowledgement has been so received, the electronic record shall be deemed to have been never sent by the originator. 

(3) Where the originator has not stipulated that the electronic record shall be binding only on receipt of such acknowledgement, and the acknowledgement has not been received by the originator within the time specified or agreed or, if no time has been specified or agreed to within a reasonable time, then, the originator may give notice to the addressee stating that no acknowledgement has been received by him and specifying a reasonable time by which the acknowledgement must be received by him and if no acknowledgement is received within the aforesaid time limit he may after giving notice to the addressee, treat the electronic record as though it has never been sent. 

SECTION 13: TIME AND PLACE OF DESPATCH AND RECEIPT OF ELECTRONIC RECORD 

(1) Save as otherwise agreed to between the originator and the addressee, the despatch of an electronic record occurs when it enters a computer resource outside the control of the originator. 

(2) Save as otherwise agreed between the originator and the addressee, the time of receipt of an electronic record shall be determined as follows, namely:— 

(a) if the addressee has designated a computer resource for the purpose of receiving electronic records,— 

(i) receipt occurs at the time when the electronic record enters the designated computer resource; or 

(ii) if the electronic record is sent to a computer resource of the addressee that is not

the designated computer resource, receipt occurs at the time when the electronic record is retrieved by the addressee; 

(b) if the addressee has not designated a computer resource along with specified timings, if any, receipt occurs when the electronic record enters the computer resources of the addressee. 

(3) Save as otherwise agreed to between the originator and the addressee, an electronic record is deemed to be despatched at the place where the originator has his place of business, and is deemed to be received at the place where the addressee has his place of business. 

(4) The provisions of sub-section (2) shall apply notwithstanding that the place where the computer resource is located may be different from the place where the electronic record is deemed to have been received under sub-section (3). 

(5) For the purposes of this section,— 

(a) if the originator or the addressee has more than one place of business, the principal place of business, shall be the place of business; 

(b) if the originator or the addressee does not have a place of business, his usual place of residence shall be deemed to be the place of business; 

(c) "usual place of residence", in relation to a body corporate, means the place where it is registered. 

SECTION 14: SECURE ELECTRONIC RECORD

Where any security procedure has been applied to an electronic record at a specific point of time, then such record shall be deemed to be a secure electronic record from such point of time to the time of verification.

SECTION 15: SECURE DIGITAL SIGNATURE 

If, by application of a security procedure agreed to by the parties concerned, it can be verified that a digital signature, at the time it was affixed, was—

(a) unique to the subscriber affixing it; 

(b) capable of identifying such subscriber; 

(c) created in a manner or using a means under the exclusive control of the subscriber and is linked to the electronic record to which it relates in such a manner that if the electronic record was altered the digital signature would be invalidated, then such digital signature shall be deemed to be a secure digital signature. 

SECTION 16: SECURITY PROCEDURE 

The Central Government shall for the purposes of this Act prescribe the security procedure having regard to commercial circumstances prevailing at the time when the procedure was used, including—

(a) the nature of the transaction; 

(b) the level of sophistication of the parties with reference to their technological capacity; 

(c) the volume of similar transactions engaged in by other parties;  (d) the availability of alternatives offered to but rejected by any party;  (e) the cost of alternative procedures; and 

(f) the procedures in general use for similar types of transactions or communications. 

SECTION 17: APPOINTMENT OF CONTROLLER AND OTHER OFFICERS

(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint a Controller of Certifying Authorities for the purposes of this Act and may also by the same or subsequent notification appoint such number of Deputy Controllers and Assistant Controllers as it deems fit. 

(2) The Controller shall discharge his functions under this Act subject to the general control and directions of the Central Government. 

(3) The Deputy Controllers and Assistant Controllers shall perform the functions assigned to them by the Controller under the general superintendence and control of the Controller. 

(4) The qualifications, experience and terms and conditions of service of Controller, Deputy Controllers and Assistant Controllers shall be such as may be prescribed by the Central Government. 

(5) The Head Office and Branch Office of the office of the Controller shall be at such places as the Central Government may specify, and these may be established at such places as the Central Government may think fit. 

(6) There shall be a seal of the Office of the Controller. 

SECTION 18: FUNCTIONS OF CONTROLLER 

The Controller may perform all or any of the following functions, namely:—

(a) exercising supervision over the activities of the Certifying Authorities; 

(b) certifying public keys of the Certifying Authorities; 

(c) laying down the standards to be maintained by the Certifying Authorities; 

(d) specifying the qualifications and experience which employees of the Certifying Authorities should possess; 

(e) specifying the conditions subject to which the Certifying Authorities shall conduct their business; 

(f) specifying the contents of written, printed or visual materials and advertisements that may be distributed or used in respect of a Digital Signature Certificate and the public key; 

(g) specifying the form and content of a Digital Signature Certificate and the key; 

(h) specifying the form and manner in which accounts shall be maintained by the Certifying Authorities; 

(i) specifying the terms and conditions subject to which auditors may be appointed and the remuneration to be paid to them; 

(j) facilitating the establishment of any electronic system by a Certifying Authority either solely or jointly with other Certifying Authorities and regulation of such systems; 

(K) specifying the manner in which the Certifying Authorities shall conduct their dealings with the subscribers; 

(l) resolving any conflict of interests between the Certifying Authorities and the subscribers; 

(m) laying down the duties of the Certifying Authorities; 

(n) maintaining a database containing the disclosure record of every Certifying Authority containing such particulars as may be specified by regulations, which shall be accessible to public. 

SECTION 19: RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN CERTIFYING AUTHORITIES

(1) Subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be specified by regulations, the Controller may with the previous approval of the Central Government, and by notification in the Official Gazette, recognise any foreign Certifying Authority as a Certifying Authority for the purposes of this Act. 

(2) Where any Certifying Authority is recognised under sub-section (1), the Digital Signature Certificate issued by such Certifying Authority shall be valid for the purposes of this Act. 

(3) The Controller may, if he is satisfied that any Certifying Authority has contravened any of the conditions and restrictions subject to which it was granted recognition under sub- section (1) he may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, by notification in the Official Gazette, revoke such recognition. 

SECTION 20: CONTROLLER TO ACT AS REPOSITORY 

(1) The Controller shall be the repository of all Digital Signature Certificates issued under this Act. 

(2) The Controller shall— 

(a) make use of hardware, software and procedures that are secure from intrusion and misuse; 

(b) observe such other standards as may be prescribed by the Central Government, to ensure that the secrecy and security of the digital signatures are assured. 

(3) The Controller shall maintain a computerised database of all public keys in such a manner that such database and the public keys are available to any member of the public. 

SECTION 21: LICENCE TO ISSUE DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATES 

(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), any person may make an application, to the Controller, for a licence to issue Digital Signature Certificates. 

(2) No licence shall be issued under sub-section (1), unless the applicant fulfils such requirements with respect to qualification, expertise, manpower, financial resources and other infrastructure facilities, which are necessary to issue Digital Signature Certificates as may be prescribed by the Central Government. 

(3) A licence granted under this section shall— 

(a) be valid for such period as may be prescribed by the Central Government; 

(b) not be transferable or heritable; 

(c) be subject to such terms and conditions as may be specified by the regulations. 

SECTION 22: APPLICATION FOR LICENCE 

(1) Every application for issue of a licence shall be in such form as may be prescribed by the Central Government. 

(2) Every application for issue of a licence shall be accompanied by— 

(a) a certification practice statement; 

(b) a statement including the procedures with respect to identification of the applicant; 

(c) payment of such fees, not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees as may be prescribed by the Central Government; 

(d) such other documents, as may be prescribed by the Central Government. 

SECTION 23: RENEWAL OF LICENCE 

An application for renewal of a licence shall be—

(a) in such form; 

(b) accompanied by such fees, not exceeding five thousand rupees, as may be prescribed by the Central Government and shall be made not less than forty- five days before the date of expiry of the period of validity of the licence. 

SECTION 24: PROCEDURE FOR GRANT OR REJECTION OF LICENCE

The Controller may, on receipt of an application under sub-section (1) of Section 21 - , after considering the documents accompanying the application and such other factors, as he deems fit, grant the licence or reject the application: Provided that no application shall be rejected under this section unless the applicant has been given a reasonable opportunity of presenting his case.

SECTION 25: SUSPENSION OF LICENCE 

(1) The Controller may, if he is satisfied after making such inquiry, as he may think fit, that a Certifying Authority has,— 

(a) made a statement in, or in relation to, the application for the issue or renewal of the licence, which is incorrect or false in material particulars; 

(b) failed to comply with the terms and conditions subject to which the licence was granted; 

2[(c) failed to maintain the procedures and standards specified in Section 30."]

(d) contravened any provisions of this Act, rule, regulation or order made thereunder, revoke the licence: 

Provided that no licence shall be revoked unless the Certifying Authority has been given a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against the proposed revocation.

(2) The Controller may, if he has reasonable cause to believe that there is any ground for revoking a licence under sub-section (1), by order suspend such licence pending the completion of any inquiry ordered by him: 

Provided that no licence shall be suspended for a period exceeding ten days unless the Certifying Authority has been given a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against the proposed suspension. 

(3) No Certifying Authority whose licence has been suspended shall issue any Digital Signature Certificate during such suspension. 

SECTION 26: NOTICE OF SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF LICENCE 

(1) Where the licence of the Certifying Authority is suspended or revoked, the Controller shall publish notice of such suspension or revocation, as the case may be, in the database maintained by him. 

(2) Where one or more repositories are specified, the Controller shall publish notices of such suspension or revocation, as the case may be, in all such repositories: Provided that the database containting the notice of such suspension or revocation, as the case may be, shall be made available through a web site which shall be accessible round the clock: Provided further that the Controller may, if he considers necessary, publicise the contents of database in such electronic or other media, as he may consider appropriate. 

SECTION 27: POWER TO DELEGATE

The Controller may, in writing, authorise the Deputy Controller, Assistant Controller or any officer to exercise any of the powers of the Controller under this Chapter.

SECTION 28: POWER TO INVESTIGATE CONTRAVENTIONS

(1) The Controller or any officer authorised by him in this behalf shall take up for investigation any contravention of the provisions of this Act, rules or regulations made thereunder.

(2) The Controller or any officer authorised by him in this behalf shall exercise the like powers which are conferred on Income-tax authorities under Chapter XIII of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) and shall exercise such powers, subject to such limitations laid down under that Act.

SECTION 29: ACCESS TO COMPUTERS AND DATA

(1) Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-section (1) of Section 69- , the Controller or any person authorised by him shall, if he has reasonable cause to suspect that any contravention of the provisions of this Act, rules or regulations made thereunder has been committed, have access to any computer system, any apparatus, data or any other material connected with such system, for the purpose of searching or causing a search to be made for obtaining any information or data contained in or available to such computer system.

(2) For the purposes of sub-section (1), the Controller or any person authorised by him may, by order, direct any person in charge of, or otherwise concerned with the operation of, the computer system, data apparatus or material, to provide him with such reasonable technical and other assistance as he may consider necessary.

SECTION 30: CERTIFYING AUTHORITY TO FOLLOW CERTAIN PROCEDURES 

Every Certifying Authority shall—

(a) make use of hardware, software and procedures that are secure from intrusion and misuse; 

(b) provide a reasonable level of reliability in its services which are reasonably suited to the performance of intended functions; 

(c) adhere to security procedures to ensure that the secrecy and privacy of the digital signatures are assured; and 

(d) observe such other standards as may be specified by regulations. 

SECTION 31: CERTIFYING AUTHORITY TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE OF THE ACT, ETC

Every Certifying Authority shall ensure that every person employed or otherwise engaged by it complies, in the course of his employment or engagement, with the provisions of this Act, rules, regulations and orders made thereunder.

SECTION 32: DISPLAY OF LICENCE

Every Certifying Authority shall display its licence at a conspicuous place of the premises in which it carries on its business.

SECTION 33: SURRENDER OF LICENCE

(1) Every Certifying Authority whose licence is suspended or revoked shall immediately after such suspension or revocation, surrender the licence to the Controller.

(2) Where any Certifying Authority fails to surrender a licence under sub-section (1), the person in whose favour a licence is issued, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend up to six months or a fine which may extend up to ten thousand rupees or with both.

SECTION 34: DISCLOSURE 

(1) Every Certifying Authority shall disclose in the manner specified by regulations— 

(a) its Digital Signature Certificate which contains the public key corresponding to the private key used by that Certifying Authority to digitally sign another Digital Signature Certificate; 

(b) any certification practice statement relevant thereto; 

(c) notice of the revocation or suspension of its Certifying Authority Certificate, if any;and 

(d) any other fact that materially and adversely affects either the reliability of a Digital Signature Certificate, which that Authority has issued, or the Authority's ability to perform its services. 

(2) Where in the opinion of the Certifying Authority any event has occurred or any situation has arisen which may materially and adversely affect the integrity of its computer system or the conditions subject to which a Digital Signature Certificate was granted, then, the Certifying Authority shall— 

(a) use reasonable efforts to notify any person who is likely to be affected by that occurrence; or 

(b) act in accordance with the procedure specified in its certification practice statement to deal with such event or situation. 

SECTION 35: CERTIFYING AUTHORITY TO ISSUE DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATE 

(1) Any person may make an application to the Certifying Authority for the issue of a Digital Signature Certificate in such form as may be prescribed by the Central Government. 

(2) Every such application shall be accompanied by such fee not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees as may be prescribed by the Central Government, to be paid to the Certifying Authority: Provided that while prescribing fees under sub-section (2) different fees may be prescribed for different classes of applicants. 

(3) Every such application shall be accompanied by a certification practice statement or where there is no such statement, a statement containing such particulars, as may be specified by regulations. 

(4) On receipt of an application under sub-section (1), the Certifying Authority may, after consideration of the certification practice statement or the other statement under sub- section (3) and after making such enquiries as it may deem fit, grant the Digital Signature Certificate or for reasons to be recorded in writing, reject the application: Provided that no Digital Signature Certificate shall be granted unless the Certifying Authority is satisfied that— 

(a) the applicant holds the private key corresponding to the public key to be listed in the Digital Signature Certificate; 

(b) the applicant holds a private key, which is capable of creating a digital signature; 

SECTION 36: REPRESENTATIONS UPON ISSUANCE OF DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATE 

A Certifying Authority while issuing a Digital Signature Certificate shall certify that—

(a) it has complied with the provisions of this Act and the rules and regulations made thereunder; 

(b) it has published the Digital Signature Certificate or otherwise made it available to such person relying on it and the subscriber has accepted it; 

(c) the subscriber holds the private key corresponding to the public key, listed in the Digital Signature Certificate; 

(d) the subscriber's public key and private key constitute a functioning key pair; 

(e) the information contained in the Digital Signature Certificate is accurate; and 

(f) it has no knowledge of any material fact, which if it had been included in the Digital Signature Certificate would adversely affect the reliability of the representations made in clauses (a) to (d). 

SECTION 37: SUSPENSION OF DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATE 

(1) Subject to the provisions of sub- section (2), the Certifying Authority which has issued a Digital Signature Certificate may suspend such Digital Signature Certificate,— 

(a) on receipt of a request to that effect from— 

(i) the subscriber listed in the Digital Signature Certificate; or 

(ii) any person duly authorised to act on behalf of that subscriber; 

(b) if it is of opinion that the Digital Signature Certificate should be suspended in public interest. 

(2) A Digital Signature Certificate shall not be suspended for a period exceeding fifteen days unless the subscriber has been given an opportunity of being heard in the matter. 

(3) On suspension of a Digital Signature Certificate under this section, the Certifying Authority shall communicate the same to the subscriber. 

SECTION 38: REVOCATION OF DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATE 

(1) A Certifying Authority may revoke a Digital Signature Certificate issued by it— 

(a) where the subscriber or any other person authorised by him makes a request to that effect; or 

(b) upon the death of the subscriber; or 

(c) upon the dissolution of the firm or winding up of the company where the subscriber is a firm or a company. 

(2) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (3) and without prejudice to the provisions of sub-section (1), a Certifying Authority may revoke a Digital Signature Certificate which has been issued by it at any time, if it is of opinion that— 

(a) a material fact represented in the Digital Signature Certificate is false or has been concealed; 

(b) a requirement for issuance of the Digital Signature Certificate was not satisfied; 

(c) the Certifying Authority's private key or security system was compromised in a manner materially affecting the Digital Signature Certificate's reliability; 

(d) the subscriber has been declared insolvent or dead or where a subscriber is a firm or a company, which has been dissolved, wound-up or otherwise ceased to exist. 

(3) A Digital Signature Certificate shall not be revoked unless the subscriber has been given an opportunity of being heard in the matter. 

(4) On revocation of a Digital Signature Certificate under this section, the Certifying Authority shall communicate the same to the subscriber. 

SECTION 39: NOTICE OF SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION

(1) Where a Digital Signature Certificate is suspended or revoked under Section 37- or Section 38- , the Certifying Authority shall publish a notice of such suspension or revocation, as the case may be, in the repository specified in the Digital Signature Certificate for publication of such notice.

(2) Where one or more repositories are specified, the Certifying Authority shall publish notices of such suspension or revocation, as the case may be, in all such repositories.

SECTION 40: GENERATING KEY PAIR

Where any Digital Signature Certificate, the public key of which corresponds to the private key of that subscriber which is to be listed in the Digital Signature Certificate has been accepted by a subscriber, 3 [* * *], the subscriber shall generate 4 [that key] pair by applying the security procedure.

SECTION 41: ACCEPTANCE OF DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATE 

(1) A subscriber shall be deemed to have accepted a Digital Signature Certificate if he publishes or authorises the publication of a Digital Signature Certificate— 

(a) to one or more persons; 

(b) in a repository, or otherwise demonstrates his approval of the Digital Signature Certificate in any manner. 

(2) By accepting a Digital Signature Certificate the subscriber certifies to all who reasonably rely on the information contained in the Digital Signature Certificate that— 

(a) the subscriber holds the private key corresponding to the public key listed in the Digital Signature Certificate and is entitled to hold the same; 

(b) all representations made by the subscriber to the Certifying Authority and

all material relevant to the information contained in the Digital Signature Certificate are true; 

(c) all information in the Digital Signature Certificate that is within the knowledge of the subscriber is true. 

SECTION 42: CONTROL OF PRIVATE KEY 

(1) Every subscriber shall exercise reasonable care to retain control of the private key corresponding to the public key listed in his Digital Signature Certificate and take all steps to prevent its disclosure 5 [* * * *].

(2) If the private key corresponding to the public key listed in the Digital Signature Certificate has been compromised, then, the subscriber shall communicate the same without any delay to the Certifying Authority in such manner as may be specified by the regulations. 

Explanation.—For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that the subscriber shall be liable till he has informed the Certifying Authority that the private key has been compromised. 

SECTION 43: PENALTY FOR DAMAGE TO COMPUTER, COMPUTER SYSTEM, ETC 

If any person without permission of the owner or any other person who is in charge of a computer, computer system or computer network,—

(a) accesses or secures access to such computer, computer system or computer network; 

(b) downloads, copies or extracts any data, computer database or information from such computer, computer system or computer network including information or data held or stored in any removable storage medium; 

(c) introduces or causes to be introduced any computer contaminant or computer virus into any computer, computer system or computer network; 

(d) damages or causes to be damaged any computer, computer system or computer network, data, computer database or any other programmes residing in such computer, computer system or computer network; 

(e) disrupts or causes disruption of any computer, computer system or computer network; 

(f) denies or causes the denial of access to any person authorised to access any computer, computer system or computer network by any means; 

(g) provides any assistance to any person to facilitate access to a computer, computer system or computer network in contravention of the provisions of this Act, rules or regulations made thereunder; 

(h) charges the services availed of by a person to the account of another person by tampering with or manipulating any computer, computer system, or computer network, 

he shall be liable to pay damages by way of compensation not exceeding one crore rupees to the person so affected.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section,— 

(i) "computer contaminant" means any set of computer instructions that are designed— 

(a) to modify, destroy, record, transmit data or programme residing within a computer, computer system or computer network; or 

(b) by any means to usurp the normal operation of the computer, computer system, or computer network; 

(ii) "computer database" means a representation of information, knowledge, facts, concepts or instructions in text, image, audio, video that are being prepared or have been prepared in a formalised manner or have been produced by a computer, computer system or computer network and are intended for use in a computer, computer system or computer network; 

(iii) "computer virus" means any computer instruction, information, data or programme that destroys, damages, degrades or adversely affects the performance of a computer resource or attaches itself to another computer resource and operates when a programme, data or instruction is executed or some other event takes place in that computer resource; 

(iv) "damage" means to desticy, alter, delete, add, modify or rearrange any computer resource by any means. 

SECTION 44: PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO FURNISH INFORMATION, RETURN, ETC 

If any person who is required under this Act or any rules or regulations made thereunder to—

(a) furnish any document, return or report to the Controller or the Certifying Authority fails to furnish the same, he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding one lakh and fifty thousand rupees for each such failure; 

(b) file any return or furnish any information, books or other documents within the time specified therefor in the regulations fails to file return or furnish the same within the time specified therefor in the regulations, he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five thousand rupees for every day during which such failure continues; 

(c) maintain books of account or records, fails to maintain the same, he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding ten thousand rupees for every day during which the failure continues. 

SECTION 45: RESIDUARY PENALTY

Whoever contravenes any rules or regulations made under this Act, for the contravention of which no penalty has been separately provided, shall be liable to pay a compensation not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees to the person affected by such contravention or a penalty not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees.

SECTION 46: POWER TO ADJUDICATE 

(1) For the purpose of adjudging under this Chapter whether any person has committed a contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or of any rule, regulation, direction or order made thereunder the Central Government shall, subject to the provisions of sub-section (3), appoint any officer not below the rank of a Director to the Government of India or an equivalent officer of a State Government to be an adjudicating officer for holding an inquiry in the manner prescribed by the Central Government. 

(2) The adjudicating officer shall, after giving the person referred to in sub-section (1) a reasonable opportunity for making representation in the matter and if, on such inquiry, he is satisfied that the person has committed the contravention, he may impose such penalty or award such compensation as he thinks fit in accordance with the provisions of that section. 

(3) No person shall be appointed as an adjudicating officer unless he possesses such experience in the field of Information Technology and legal or judicial experience as may be prescribed by the Central Government. 

(4) Where more than one adjudicating officers are appointed, the Central Government shall specify by order the matters and places with respect to which such officers shall exercise their jurisdiction. 

(5) Every adjudicating officer shall have the powers of a civil court which are conferred on the Cyber Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (2) of Section 58- , and— 

(a) all proceedings before it shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings within

the meaning of Sections 193 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (45 of 1860) ; 

(b) shall be deemed to be a civil court for the purposes of Sections 345 and Section 346 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) . 

SECTION 47: FACTORS TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT BY THE ADJUDICATING OFFICER 

While adjudging the quantum of compensation under this Chapter, the adjudicating officer shall have due regard to the following factors, namely :—

(a) the amount of gain of unfair advantage, wherever quantifiable, made as a result of the default; 

(b) the amount of loss caused to any person as a result of the default; 

(c) the repetitive nature of the default. 

SECTION 48: ESTABLISHMENT OF CYBER APPELLATE TRIBUNAL

(1) The Central Government shall, by notification, establish one or more appellate tribunals to be known as the Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal.

(2) The Central Government shall also specify, in the notification referred to in sub- section (1), the matters and places in relation to which the Cyber Appellate Tribunal may exercise jurisdiction.

SECTION 49: COMPOSITION OF CYBER APPELLATE TRIBUNAL

A Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall consist of one person only (hereinafter referred to as the Presiding Officer of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal) to be appointed, by notification, by the Central Government.

SECTION 50: QUALIFICATIONS FOR APPOINTMENT AS PRESIDING OFFICER OF THE CYBER APPELLATE TRIBUNAL

A person shall not be qualified for appointment as the Presiding Officer of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal unless he—

(a) is, or has been, or is qualified to be, a Judge of a High Court; or

(b) is or has been a member of the Indian Legal Service and is holding or has held a post in Grade I of that Service for at least three years.

SECTION 51: TERM OF OFFICE

The Presiding Officer of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall hold office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office or until he attains the age of sixty-five years, whichever is earlier.

SECTION 52: SALARY, ALLOWANCES AND OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE OF PRESIDING OFFICER

The salary and allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions of service including pension, gratuity and other retirement benefits of, the Presiding Officer of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall be such as may be prescribed: Provided that neither the salary and allowances nor the other terms and conditions of service of the Presiding Officer shall be varied to his disadvantage after appointment.

SECTION 53: FILLING UP OF VACANCIES

If, for reason other than temporary absence, any vacancy occurs in the office of the Presiding Officer of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal, then the Central Government shall appoint another person in accordance with the provisions of this Act to fill the vacancy and the proceedings may be continued before the Cyber Appellate Tribunal from the stage at which the vacancy is filled.

SECTION 54: REGISTRATION AND REMOVAL

(1) The Presiding Officer of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal may, by notice in writing under his hand addressed to the Central Government, resign his office: Provided that the said Presiding Officer shall, unless he is permitted by the Central Government to relinquish his office sooner, continue to hold office until the expiry of three months from the date of receipt of such notice or until a person duly appointed as his successor enters upon his office or until the expiry of his term of office, whichever is the earliest.

(2) The Presiding Officer of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall not be removed from his office except by an order by the Central Government on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity after an inquiry made by a Judge of the Supreme Court in which the Presiding Officer concerned has been informed of the charges against him and given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of these charges.

(3) The Central Government may, by rules, regulate the procedure for the investigation of misbehaviour or incapacity of the aforesaid Presiding Officer.

SECTION 55: ORDERS CONSTITUTING APPELLATE TRIBUNAL TO BE FINAL AND NOT TO INVALIDATE ITS PROCEEDINGS

No order of the Central Government appointing any person as the Presiding Officer of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall be called in question in any manner and no act or proceeding before a Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall be called in question in any manner on the ground merely of any defect in the constitution of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal.

SECTION 56: STAFF OF THE CYBER APPELLATE TRIBUNAL

(1) The Central Government shall provide the Cyber Appellate Tribunal with such officers and employees as that Government may think fit.

(2) The officers and employees of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall discharge their functions under general superintendence of the Presiding Officer.

(3) The salaries, allowances and other conditions of service of the officers and employees of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall be such as may be prescribed by the Central Government.

SECTION 57: APPEAL TO CYBER APPELLATE TRIBUNAL

(1) Save as provided in sub-section (2), any person aggrieved by an order made by Controller or an adjudicating officer under this Act may prefer an appeal to a Cyber Appellate Tribunal having jurisdiction in the matter.

(2) No appeal shall lie to the Cyber Appellate Tribunal from an order made by an adjudicating officer with the consent of the parties.

(3) Every appeal under sub-section (1) shall be filed within a period of forty-five days from the date on which a copy of the order made by the Controller or the adjudicating officer is received by the person aggrieved and it shall be in such form and be accompanied by such fee as may be prescribed:

Provided that the Cyber Appellate Tribunal may entertain an appeal after the expiry of the said period of forty-five days if it is satisfied that there was sufficient cause for not filing it within that period.

(4) On receipt of an appeal under sub-section (1), the Cyber Appellate Tribunal may, after giving the parties to the appeal, an opportunity of being heard, pass such orders thereon as it thinks fit, confirming, modifying or setting aside the order appealed against.

(5) The Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall send a copy of every order made by it to the parties to the appeal and to the concerned Controller or adjudicating officer.

(6) The appeal filed before the Cyber Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (1) shall be dealt with by it as expeditiously as possible and endeavour shall be made by it to dispose of the appeal finally within six months from the date of receipt of the appeal.

SECTION 58: PROCEDURE AND POWERS OF THE CYBER APPELLATE TRIBUNAL

(1) The Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall not be bound by the procedure laid down by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) but shall be guided by the principles of natural justice and, subject to the other provisions of this Act and of any rules, the Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall have powers to regulate its own procedure including the place at which it shall have its sittings.

(2) The Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall have, for the purposes of discharging its functions under this Act, the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), while trying a suit, in respect of the following matters, namely:—

(a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath;

(b) requiring the discovery and production of documents or other electronic records;

(c) receiving evidence on affidavits;

(d) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents;

(e) reviewing its decisions;

(f) dismissing an application for default or deciding it ex parte;

(g) any other matter which may be prescribed.

(3) Every proceeding before the Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of Sections 193 and Section 228 , and for the purposes of Section 196 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (45 of 1860) and the Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall be deemed to be a civil court for the purposes of Section 195 and Chapter XXVI of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).

SECTION 59: RIGHT TO LEGAL REPRESENTATION

The appellant may either appear in person or authorise one or more legal practitioners or any of its officers to present his or its case before the Cyber Appellate Tribunal.

SECTION 60: LIMITATION

The provisions of the Limitation Act, 1963 (36 of 1963), shall, as far as may be, apply to an appeal made to the Cyber Appellate Tribunal.

SECTION 61: CIVIL COURT NOT TO HAVE JURISDICTION

No court shall have jurisdiction to entertain any suit or proceeding in respect of any matter which an adjudicating officer appointed under this Act or the Cyber Appellate Tribunal constituted under this Act is empowered by or under this Act to determine and no injunction shall be granted by any court or other authority in respect of any action taken or to be taken in pursuance of any power conferred by or under this Act.

SECTION 62: APPEAL TO HIGH COURT

Any person aggrieved by any decision or order of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal may file an appeal to the High Court within sixty days from the date of communication of the decision or order of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal to him on any question of fact or law arising out of such order: Provided that the High Court may, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal within the said period, allow it to be filed within a further period not exceeding sixty days.

SECTION 63: COMPOUNDING OF CONTRAVENTIONS

(1) Any contravention under this 6 ["Act"] may, either before or after the institution of adjudication proceedings, be compounded by the Controller or such other officer as may be specially authorised by him in this behalf or by the adjudicating officer, as the case may be, subject to such conditions as the Controller or such other officer or the adjudicating officer may specify: Provided that such sum shall not, in any case, exceed the maximum amount of the penalty which may be imposed under this Act for the contravention so compounded.

(2) Nothing in sub-section (1) shall apply to a person who commits the same or similar contravention within a period of three years from the date on which the first contravention, committed by him, was compounded.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section, any second or subsequent contravention committed after the expiry of a period of three years from the date on which the contravention was previously compounded shall be deemed to be a first contravention.

(3) Where any contravention has been compounded under sub-section (1), no proceeding or further proceeding, as the case may be, shall be taken against the person guilty of such contravention in respect of the contravention so compounded.

SECTION 64: RECOVERY OF PENALTY

A penalty imposed under this Act, if it is not paid, shall be recovered as an arrear of land revenue and the licence or the Digital Signature Certificate, as the case may be, shall be suspended till the penalty is paid.

SECTION 65: TAMPERING WITH COMPUTER SOURCE DOCUMENTS

Whoever knowingly or intentionally conceals, destroys or alters or intentionally or knowingly causes another to conceal, destroy or alter any computer source code used for a computer, computer programme, computer system or computer network, when the computer source code is required to be kept or maintained by law for the time being in force, shall be punishable with imprisonment up to three years, or with fine which may extend up to two lakh rupees, or with both.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, "computer source code" means the listing of programmes, computer commands, design and layout and programme analysis of computer resource in any form.

SECTION 66: HACKING WITH COMPUTER SYSTEM

(1) Whoever with the intent to cause or knowing that he is likely to cause wrongful loss or damage to the public or any person destroys or deletes or alters any information residing in a computer resource or diminishes its value or utility or affects it injuriously by any means, commits hacking.

(2) Whoever commits hacking shall be punished with imprisonment up to three years, or with fine which may extend up to two lakh rupees, or with both.

SECTION 67: PUBLISHING OF INFORMATION WHICH IS OBSCENE IN ELECTRONIC FORM

Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees and in the event of a second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and also with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees.

SECTION 68: POWER OF CONTROLLER TO GIVE DIRECTIONS

(1) The Controller may, by order, direct a Certifying Authority or any employee of such Authority to take such measures or cease carrying on such activities as specified in the order if those are necessary to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Act, rules or any regulations made thereunder.

(2) Any person who fails to comply with any order under sub-section (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to a fine not exceeding two lakh rupees or to both.

SECTION 69: DIRECTIONS OF CONTROLLER TO A SUBSCRIBER TO EXTEND FACILITIES TO DECRYPT INFORMATION

(1) If the Controller is satisfied that it is necessary or expedient so to do in the interest of the sovereignty or integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence, for reasons to be recorded in writing, by order, direct any agency of the Government to intercept any information transmitted through any computer resource.

(2) The subscriber or any person in charge of the computer resource shall, when called upon by any agency which has been directed under sub-section (1), extend all facilities and technical assistance to decrypt the information.

(3) The subscriber or any person who fails to assist the agency referred to in sub-section (2) shall be punished with an imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years.

SECTION 70: PROTECTED SYSTEM

(1) The appropriate Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare that any computer, computer system or computer network to be a protected system.

(2) The appropriate Government may, by order in writing, authorise the persons who are authorised to access protected systems notified under sub-section (1).

(3) Any person who secures access or attempts to secure access to a protected system in contravention of the provisions of this section shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to fine.

SECTION 71: PENALTY FOR MISREPRESENTATION

Whoever makes any misrepresentation to, or suppresses any material fact from, the Controller or the Certifying Authority for obtaining any licence or Digital Signature Certificate, as the case may be, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both.

SECTION 72: PENALTY FOR BREACH OF CONFIDENTIALITY AND PRIVACY

Save as otherwise provided in this Act or any other law for the time being in force, any person who, in pursuance of any of the powers conferred under this Act, rules or regulations made thereunder, has secured access to any electronic record, book, register, correspondence, information, document or other material without the consent of the person concerned discloses such electronic record, book, register, correspondence, information, document or other material to any other person shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both.

SECTION 73: PENALTY FOR PUBLISHING DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATE FALSE IN CERTAIN PARTICULARS 

(1) No person shall publish a Digital Signature Certificate or otherwise make it available to any other person with the knowledge that— 

(a) the Certifying Authority listed in the certificate has not issued it; or 

(b) the subscriber listed in the certificate has not accepted it; or 

(c) the certificate has been revoked or suspended, unless such publication is for the purpose of verifying a digital signature created prior to such suspension or revocation. 

(2) Any person who contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both. 

SECTION 74: PUBLICATION FOR FRAUDULENT PURPOSE

Whoever knowingly creates, publishes or otherwise makes available a Digital Signature Certificate for any fraudulent or unlawful purpose shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both.

SECTION 75: ACT TO APPLY FOR OFFENCE OR CONTRAVENTION COMMITTED OUTSIDE INDIA

(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), the provisions of this Act shall apply also to any offence or contravention committed outside India by any person irrespective of his nationality.

(2) For the purposes of sub-section (1), this Act shall apply to an offence or contravention committed outside India by any person if the act or conduct constituting the offence or contravention involves a computer, computer system or computer network located in India.

SECTION 76: CONFISCATION

Any computer, computer system, floppies, compact disks, tape drives or any other accessories related thereto, in respect of which any provision of this Act, rules, orders or regulations made thereunder has been or is being contravened, shall be liable to confiscation: Provided that where it is established to the satisfaction of the court adjudicating the confiscation that the person in whose possession, power or control of any such computer, computer system, floppies, compact disks, tape drives or any other accessories relating thereto is found is not responsible for the contravention of the provisions of this Act, rules, orders or regulations made thereunder, the court may, instead of making an order for confiscation of such computer, computer system, floppies, compact disks, tape drives or any other accessories related thereto, make such other order authorised by this Act against the person contravening of the provisions of this Act, rules, orders or regulations made thereunder as it may think fit.

SECTION 77: PENALTIES OR CONFISCATION NOT TO INTERFERE WITH OTHER PUNISHMENTS

No penalty imposed or confiscation made under this Act shall prevent the imposition of any other punishment to which the person affected thereby is liable under any other law for the time being in force.

SECTION 78: POWER TO INVESTIGATE OFFENCES

Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), a police officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police shall investigate any offence under this Act.

SECTION 79: NETWORK SERVICE PROVIDERS NOT TO BE LIABLE IN CERTAIN CASES 

For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that no person providing any service as a network service provider shall be liable under this Act, rules or regulations made thereunder for any third party information or data made available by him if he proves that the offence or contravention was committed without his knowledge or that he had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence or contravention.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section,— 

(a) "network service provider" means an intermediary; 

(b) "third party information" means any information dealt with by a network service provider in his capacity as an intermediary. 

SECTION 80: POWER OF POLICE OFFICER AND OTHER OFFICERS TO ENTER, SEARCH, ETC 

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), any police officer, not below the rank of a Deputy Superintendent of Police, or any other officer of the Central Government or a State Government authorised by the Central Government in this behalf may enter any public place and search and arrest without warrant any person found therein who is reasonably suspected or having committed or of committing or of being about to commit any offence under this Act. 

Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section, the expression "public

place" includes any public conveyance, any hotel, any shop or any other place intended for use by, or accessible to the public. 

(2) Where any person is arrested under sub-section (1) by an officer other than a police officer, such officer shall, without unnecessary delay, take or send the person arrested before a magistrate having jurisdiction in the case or before the officer in-charge of a police station. 

(3) The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) shall, subject to the provisions of this section, apply, so far as may be, in relation to any entry, search or arrest, made under this section. 

SECTION 81: ACT TO HAVE OVERRIDING EFFECT

The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force.

SECTION 81:A APPLICATION OF THE ACT TO ELECTRONIC CHEQUE AND TRUNCATED CHEQUE. 

7 (1) The provisions of this Act, for the time being in force, shall apply to, or in relation to. electronic cheques and the truncated cheques subject to such modifications and amendments as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (26 of 1881) by the Central Government, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, by notification in the Official Gazette. 

(2) Every notification made by the Central Government under sub-section (1) shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the notification or both Houses agree that the notification should not be made, the notification shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that notification. 

Explanation.—For the purposes of this Act, the expressions "electronic cheque" and "truncated cheque" shall have the same meaning as assigned to them in Section 6 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (26 of 1881).'. 

SECTION 82: CONTROLLER, DEPUTY CONTROLLER AND ASSISTANT CONTROLLERS TO BE PUBLIC SERVANTS

The Presiding Officer and other officers and employees of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal, the Controller, the Deputy Controller and the Assistant Controllers shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (45 of 1860)

SECTION 83: POWER TO GIVE DIRECTIONS

The Central Government may give directions to any State Government as to the carrying into execution in the State of any of the provisions of this Act or of any rule, regulation or order made thereunder.

SECTION 84: PROTECTION OF ACTION TAKEN IN GOOD FAITH

No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Central Government, the State Government, the Controller or any person acting on behalf of him, the Presiding Officer, adjudicating officers and the staff of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or any rule, regulation or order made thereunder.

SECTION 85: OFFENCES BY COMPANIES

(1) Where a person committing a contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or of any rule, direction or order made thereunder is a company, every person who, at the time the contravention was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of business of the company as well as the company, shall be guilty of the contravention and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly: Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to punishment if he proves that the contravention took place without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent such contravention.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where a contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or of any rule, direction or order made thereunder has been committed by a company and it is proved that the contravention has taken place with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of the contravention and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section,—

(i)"company" means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and

(ii) "director", in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.

SECTION 86: REMOVAL OF DIFFICULTIES

(1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the Central Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, make such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty: Provided that no order shall be made under this section after the expiry of a period of two years from the commencement of this Act.

(2) Every order made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament.

SECTION 87: POWER OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT TO MAKE RULES 

(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette and in the Electronic Gazette make rules to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely :— 

(a) the manner in which any information or matter may be authenticated by means of digital signature under Section 5- ; 

(b) the electronic form in which filing, issue, grant or payment shall be effected under sub-section (1) of Section 6- ; 

(c) the manner and format in which electronic records shall be filed, or issued and the method of payment under sub-section (2) of Section 6- ; 

(d) the matters relating to the type of digital signature, manner and format in which it may be affixed under Section 10- ; 

(e) the security procedure for the purpose of creating secure electronic record and secure digital signature under Section 16- ; 

(f) the qualifications, experience and terms and conditions of service of Controller, Deputy Controllers and Assistant Controllers under Section 17- ; 

(g) other standards to be observed by the Controller under clause (b) of subsection (2) of Section 20- ; 

(h) the requirements which an applicant must fulfil under sub-section (2) of Section 21- ; 

(i) the period of validity of licence granted under clause (a) of sub-section (3) of Section 21- ; 

(j) the form in which an application for licence may be made under sub-section (1) of Section 22- ; 

(k) the amount of fees payable under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of Section 22- ; 

(l) such other documents which shall accompany an application for licence under clause (d) of sub-section (2) of Section 22- ; 

(m) the form and the fee for renewal of a licence and the fee payable thereof under Section 23 - ; 

(n) the form in which application for issue of a Digital Signature Certificate may be made under sub-section (1) of Section 35- ; 

(o) the fee to be paid to the Certifying Authority for issue of a Digital Signature Certificate under sub-section (2) of Section 35- ; 

(p) the manner in which the adjudicating officer shall hold inquiry under subsection (1) of Section 46- ;  

(q) the qualification and experience which the adjudicating officer shall possess under sub-section (2) of Section 46- ; 

(r) the salary, allowances and the other terms and conditions of service of the Presiding Officer under Section 52- ; 

(s) the procedure for investigation of misbehaviour or incapacity of the Presiding Officer under sub-section (3) of Section 54- ; 

(t) the salary and allowances and other conditions of service of other officers and employees under sub-section (3) of Section 56- ; 

(u) the form in which appeal may be filed and the fee thereof under sub-section (3) of Section 57- ; 

(v) any other power of a civil court required to be prescribed under clause (g) of sub-section (2) of Section 58- ; and 

(w) any other matter which is required to be, or may be, prescribed. 

(3) Every notification made by the Central Government under clause (f) of sub-section (4) of Section 1- and every rule made by it shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the notification or the rule or both Houses agree that the notification or the rule should not be made, the notification or the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that notification or rule. 

SECTION 88: CONSTITUTION OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

(1) The Central Government shall, as soon as may be after the commencement of this Act, constitute a Committee called the Cyber Regulations Advisory Committee. 

(2) The Cyber Regulations Advisory Committee shall consist of a Chairperson and such number of other official and non-official members representing the interests principally affected or having special knowledge of the subject-matter as the Central Government may deem fit. 

(3) The Cyber Regulations Advisory Committee shall advise— 

(a) the Central Government either generally as regards any rules or for any other purpose connected with this Act; 

(b) the Controller in framing the regulations under this Act. 

(4) There shall be paid to the non-official members of such Committee such travelling and other allowances as the Central Government may fix. 

SECTION 89: POWER OF CONTROLLER TO MAKE REGULATIONS 

(1) The Controller may, after consultation with the Cyber Regulations Advisory Committee and with the previous approval of the Central Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, make regulations consistent with this Act and the rules made thereunder to carry out the purposes of this Act. 

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such regulations may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely :— 

(a) the particulars relating to maintenance of database containing the disclosure record of every Certifying Authority under clause 8 [(n)] of Section 18- ;

(b) the conditions and restrictions subject to which the Controller may recognise any foreign Certifying Authority under sub-section (1) of Section 19- ; 

(c) the terms and conditions subject to which a licence may be granted under clause (c) of sub-section (3) of Section 21- ; 

(d) other standards to be observed by a Certifying Authority under clause (a) of Section 30 - ; 

(e) the manner in which the Certifying Authority shall disclose the matters specified in sub-section (1) of Section 34- ; 

(f) the particulars of statement which shall accompany an application under sub- section (3) of Section 35- ; 

(g) the manner in which the subscriber shall communicate the compromise of private key to the certifying Authority under sub-section (2) of Section 42- . 

(3) Every regulation made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the regulation or both Houses agree that the regulation should not be made, the regulation shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that regulation. 

SECTION 90: POWER OF STATE GOVERNMENT TO MAKE RULES 

(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely :— 

(a) the electronic form in which filing, issue, grant of receipt or payment shall be effected under sub-section (1) of Section 6 - ; 

(b) for matters specified in sub-section (2) of Section 6- ; 

(c) any other matter which is required to be provided by rules by the State Government. 

(3) Every rule made by the State Government under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of the State Legislature where it consists of two Houses, or where such Legislature consists of one House, before that House. 

SECTION 91: AMENDMENT OF ACT 45 OF 1860

The Indian Penal Code, 1860 shall be amended in the manner specified in the First Schedule to this Act.

SECTION 92: AMENDMENT OF ACT 1 OF 1872

The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 shall be amended in the manner specified in the Second Schedule to this Act.

SECTION 93: AMENDMENT OF ACT 18 OF 1891

The Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891 shall be amended in the manner specified in the Third Schedule to this Act.

SECTION 94: AMENDMENT OF ACT 2 OF 1934

The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 shall be amended in the manner specified in the Fourth Schedule to this Act.

SCHEDULE 1 THE FIRST SCHEDULE

( See Section 91- ) AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIAN PENAL CODE, 1860 (45 of 1860) 1. After Section 29, the following section shall be inserted, namely :— "29-A. Electronic record.—The words "electronic record" shall have the meaning assigned to them in clause (t) of sub-section (I) of Section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.". 2. In Section 167, for the words "such public servant, charged with the preparation or translation of any document, frames or translates that document", the words "such public servant, charged with the preparation or translation of any document or electronic record, frames, prepares or translates that document or electronic record" shall be substituted. 3. In Section 172, for the words "produce a document in a Court of Justice", the words "produce a document or an electronic record in a Court of Justice" shall be substituted. 4. In Section 173, for the words "to produce a document in a Court of Justice", the words "to produce a document or electronic record in a Court of Justice" shall be substituted. 5. In Section 175, for the word "document" at both the places where it occurs, the words "document or electronic record" shall be substituted. 6. In Section 192, for the words "makes any false entry in any book or record, or makes any document containing a false statement", the words "makes any false entry in any book or record, or electronic record or makes any document or electronic record containing a false statement" shall be substituted. 1. In Section 204, for the word "document" at both the places where it occurs, the words "document or electronic record" shall be substituted. 8. In Section 463, for the words "Whoever makes any false documents or part of a document with intent to cause damage or injury", the words "Whoever makes any false documents or false electronic record or part of a document or electronic record, with intent to cause damage or injury" shall be substituted. 9. In Section 464,— (a) for the portion beginning with the words "A person is said to make a false document" and ending with the words "by reason of deception practised upon him, he does not know the contents of the document or the nature of the alteration", the following shall be substituted, namely :— "A person is said to make a false document or false electronic record— First.—Who dishonestly or fraudulently— (a) makes, signs, seals or executes a document or part of a document; (b) makes or transmits any electronic record or part of any electronic record; (c) affixes any digital signature on any electronic record; (d) makes any mark denoting the execution of a document or the authenticity of the digital signature, with the intention of causing it to be believed that such document or part of document, electronic record or digital signature was made, signed, sealed, executed, transmitted or affixed by or by the authority of a person by whom or by whose authority he knows that it was not made, signed, sealed, executed or affixed; or Secondly.—Who, without lawful authority, dishonestly or fraudulently, by cancellation or otherwise, alters a document or an electronic record in any material part thereof, after it has been made, executed or affixed with digital signature either by himself or by any other person, whether such person be living or dead at the time of such alteration; or Thirdly.—Who dishonestly or fraudulently causes any person to sign, seal, execute or alter a document or an electronic record or to affix his digital signature on any electronic record knowing that such person by reason of unsoundness of mind or intoxication cannot, or that by reason of deception practised upon him, he does not know the contents of the document or electronic record or the nature of the alteration."; (b) after Explanation 2, the following Explanation shall be inserted at the end, namely :— 'Explanation 3.—For the purposes of this section, the expression "affixing digital signature" shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (d) of sub- section (1) of Section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.'. 10. In Section 466,— (a) for the words "Whoever forges a document", the words "Whoever forges a document or an electronic record" shall be substituted; (b) the following Explanation shall be inserted at the end, namely :— 'Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, "register" includes any list, data or record of any entries maintained in the electronic form as defined in clause (r) of sub-section (1) of Section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.'. 11. In Section 468, for the words "document forged", the words "document or electronic record forged" shall be substituted. 12. In Section 469, for the words "intending that the document forged", the words "intending that the document or electronic record forged" shall be substituted. 13. In Section 470, for the word "document" in both the places where it occurs, the words "document or electronic record" shall be substituted. 14. In Section 471, for the word "document" wherever it occurs, the words "document or electronic record" shall be substituted. 15. In Section 474, for the portion beginning with the words "Whoever has in his possession any document" and ending with the words "if the document is one of the description mentioned in Section 466 of this Code", the following shall be substituted, namely :— "Whoever has in his possession any document or electronic record, knowing the same to be forged and intending that the same shall fraudulently or dishonestly be used as a genuine, shall, if the document or electronic record is one of the description mentioned in Section 466 of this Code.". 16. In Section 476, for the words "any document", the words "any document or electronic record" shall be substituted. 17. In Section 477-A, for the words "book, paper, writing" at both the places where they occur, the words "book, electronic record, paper, writing" shall be substituted.

SCHEDULE 2 THE SECOND SCHEDULE

(See Section 92) AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT, 1872 (1 of 1872) 1. In Section 3,— (a) in the definition of "Evidence", for the words "all documents produced for the inspection of the Court", the words "all documents including electronic records produced for the inspection of the Court" shall be substituted; (b) after the definition of "India", the following shall be inserted, namely :— 'the expressions "Certifying Authority", "digital signature", "Digital Signature Certificate", "electronic form", "electronic records", "information", "secure electronic record", "secure digital signature" and "subscriber" shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Information Technology Act, 2000.'. 2. In Section 17, for the words "oral or documentary,", the words "oral or documentary or contained in electronic form" shall be substituted. 3. After Section 22, the following section shall be inserted, namely :— "22-A. When oral admission as to contents of electronic records are relevant.— Oral admissions as to the contents of electronic records are not relevant, unless the genuineness of the electronic record produced is in question.". 4. In Section 34, for the words "Entries in the books of account", the words "Entries in the books of account, including those maintained in an electronic form" shall be substituted. 5. In Section 35, for the word "record", in both the places where it occurs, the words "record or an electronic record" shall be substituted. 6. For Section 39, the following section shall be substituted, namely :— "39. What evidence to be given when statement forms part of a conversation, document, electronic record, book or series of letters or papers.—When any statement of which evidence is given forms part of a longer statement, or of a conversation or part of an isolated document, or is contained in a document which forms part of a book, or is contained in part of electronic record or of a connected series of letters or papers, evidence shall be given of so much and no more of the statement, conversation, document, electronic record, book or series of letters or papers as the Court considers necessary in that particular case to the full understanding of the nature and effect of the statement, and of the circumstances under which it was made.". 7. After Section 47, the following section shall be inserted, namely :— "47-A. Opinion as to digital signature where relevant.—When the Court has to form an opinion as to the digital signature of any person, the opinion of the Certifying Authority which has issued the Digital Signature Certificate is a relevant fact.". 8. In Section 59, for the words "contents of documents" the words "contents of documents or electronic records" shall be substituted. 9. After Section 65, the following sections shall be inserted, namely :— '65-A. Special provisions as to evidence relating to electronic record.—The contents of electronic records may be proved in accordance with the provisions of Section 65-B. 65-B. Admissibility of electronic records.—(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, any information contained in an electronic record which is printed on a paper, stored, recorded or copied in optical or magnetic media produced by a computer (hereinafter referred to as the computer output) shall be deemed to be also a document, if the conditions mentioned in this section are satisfied in relation to the information and computer in question and shall be admissible in any proceedings, without further proof or production of the original, as evidence of any contents of the original or of any fact stated therein of which direct evidence would be admissible. (2) The conditions referred to in sub-section (1) in respect of a computer output shall be the following, namely :— (a) the computer output containing the information was produced by the computer during the period over which the computer was used regularly to store or process information for the purposes of any activities regularly carried on over that period by the person having lawful control over the use of the computer; (b) during the said period, information of the kind contained in the electronic record or of the kind from which the information so contained is derived was regularly fed into the computer in the ordinary course of the said activities; (c) throughout the material part of the said period, the computer was operating properly or, if not, then in respect of any period in which it was not operating properly or was out of operation during that part of the period, was not such as to affect the electronic record or the accuracy of its contents; and (d) the information contained in the electronic record reproduces or is derived from such information fed into the computer in the ordinary course of the said activities. (3) Where over any period, the function of storing or processing information for the purposes of any activities regularly carried on over that period as mentioned in clause (a) of sub-section (2) was regularly performed by computers, whether— (a) by a combination of computers operating over that period; or (b) by different computers operating in succession over that period; or (c) by different combinations of computers operating in succession over that period; or (d) in any other manner involving the successive operation over that period, in whatever order, of one or more computers and one or more combinations of computers, all the computers used for that purpose during that period shall be treated for the purposes of this section as constituting a single computer; and references in this section to a computer shall be construed accordingly. (4) In any proceedings where it is desired to give a statement in evidence by virtue of this section, a certificate doing any of the following things, that is to say,— (a) identifying the electronic record containing the statement and describing the manner in which it was produced; (b) giving such particulars of any device involved in the production of that electronic record as may be appropriate for the purpose of showing that the electronic record was produced by a computer; (c) dealing with any of the matters to which the conditions mentioned in sub-section (2) relate, and purporting to be signed by a person occupying a responsible official position in relation to the operation of the relevant device or the management of the relevant activities (whichever is appropriate) shall be evidence of any matter stated in the certificate; and for the purposes of this sub-section it shall be sufficient for a matter to be stated to the best of the knowledge and belief of the person stating it. (5) For the purposes of this section,— (a) information shall be taken to be supplied to a computer if it is supplied thereto in any appropriate form and whether it is so supplied directly or (with or without human intervention) by means of any appropriate equipment; (b) whether in the course of activities carried on by any official, information is supplied with a view to its being stored or processed for the purposes of those activities by a computer operated otherwise than in the course of those activities, that information, if duly supplied to that computer, shall be taken to be supplied to it in the course of those activities; (c) a computer output shall be taken to have been produced by a computer whether it was produced by it directly or (with or without human intervention) by means of any appropriate equipment. Explanation.—For the purposes of this section any reference to information being derived from other information shall be a reference to its being derived therefrom by calculation, comparison or any other process.'. 10. After Section 67, the following section shall be inserted, namely :— "67-A. Proof as to digital signature.—Except in the case of a secure digital signature, if the digital signature of any subscriber is alleged to have been affixed to an electronic record the fact that such digital signature is the digital signature of the subscriber must be proved.". 11. After Section 73, the following section shall be inserted, namely :— '73-A. Proof as to verification of digital signature.—In order to ascertain whether a digital signature is that of the person by whom it purports to have been affixed, the Court may direct— (a) that person or the Controller or the Certifying Authority to produce the Digital Signature Certificate; (b) any other person to apply the public key listed in the Digital Signature Certificate and verify the digital signature purported to have been affixed by that person. Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, "Controller" means the Controller appointed under sub-section (1) of Section 17 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.'. 12. After Section 81, the following section shall be inserted, namely :— "81-A. Presumption as to Gazettes in electronic forms.—The Court shall presume the genuineness of every electronic record purporting to be the Official Gazette, or purporting to be electronic record directed by any law to be kept by any person, if such electronic record is kept substantially in the form required by law and is produced from proper custody." 13. After Section 85, the following sections shall be inserted, namely :— "85-A. Presumption as to electronic agreements.—The Court shall presume that every electronic record purporting to be an agreement containing the digital signatures of the parties was so concluded by affixing the digital signature of the parties. 85-B. Presumption as to electronic records and digital signatures.—(1) In any proceedings involving a secure electronic record, the Court shall presume unless contrary is proved, that the secure electronic record has not been altered since the specific point of time to which the secure status relates. (2) In any proceedings, involving secure digital signature, the Court shall presume unless the contrary is proved that— (a) the secure digital signature is affixed by subscriber with the intention of signing or approving the electronic record; (b) except in the case of a secure electronic record or a secure digital signature, nothing in this section shall create any presumption relating to authenticity and integrity of the electronic record or any digital signature. 85-C. Presumption as to Digital Signature Certificates.—The Court shall presume, unless contrary is proved, that the information listed in a Digital Signature Certificate is correct, except for information specified as subscriber information which has not been verified, if the certificate was accepted by the subscriber.". 14. After Section 88, the following section shall be inserted, namely :— '88-A. Presumption as to electronic messages.—The Court may presume that an electronic message forwarded by the originator through an electronic mail server to the addressee to whom the message purports to be addressed corresponds with the message as fed into his computer for transmission; but the Court shall not make any presumption as to the person by whom such message was sent. Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, the expressions "addressee" and "originator" shall have the same meanings respectively assigned to them in clauses (b) and (za) of sub-section (1) of Section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.'. 15. After Section 90, the following section shall be inserted, namely :— "90-A. Presumption as to electronic records five years old.—Where any electronic record, purporting or proved to be five years old, is produced from any custody which the Court in the particular case considers proper, the Court may presume that the digital signature which purports to be the digital signature of any particular person was so affixed by him or any person authorised by him in this behalf. Explanation.—Electronic records are said to be in proper custody if they are in the place in which, and under the care of the person with whom, they naturally be; but no custody is improper if it is proved to have a legitimate origin, or the circumstances of the particular case are such as to render such an origin probable. This Explanation applies also to Section 81-A.". 16. For Section 131, the following section shall be substituted, namely :— "131. Production of documents or electronic records which another person, having possession, could refuse to produce.—No one shall be compelled to produce documents in his possession or electronic records under his control, which any other person would be entitled to refuse to produce if they were in his possession or control, unless such last-mentioned person consents to their production.".

SCHEDULE 3 THE THIRD SCHEDULE

(See Section 93) AMENDMENTS TO THE BANKERS' BOOKS EVIDENCE ACT, 1891 (18 of 1891) 1. In Section 2— (a) for clause (3), the following clause shall be substituted, namely :— '(3) "bankers' books" include ledgers, day-books, cash-books, account- books and all other books used in the ordinary business of a bank whether kept in the written form or as printouts of data stored in a floppy, disc, tape or any other form of electro-magnetic data storage device;'. (b) for clause (8), the following clause shall be substituted, namely :— '(8) "certified copy" means when the books of a bank,— (a) are maintained in written form, a copy of any entry in such books together with a certificate written at the foot of such copy that it is a true copy of such entry, that such entry is contained in one of the ordinary books of the bank and was made in the usual and ordinary course of business and that such book is still in the custody of the bank, and where the copy was obtained by a mechanical or other process which in itself ensured the accuracy of the copy, a further certificate to that effect, but where the book from which such copy was prepared has been destroyed in the usual course of the bank's business after the date on which the copy had been so prepared, a further certificate to that effect, each such certificate being dated and subscribed by the principal accountant or manager of the bank with his name and official title; and (b) consist of printouts of data stored in a floppy, disc, tape or any other electro-magnetic data storage device, a printout of such entry or a copy of such printout together with such statements certified in accordance with the provisions of Section 2-A.'. 2. After Section 2, the following section shall be inserted, namely :— "2-A. Conditions in the printout.—A printout of entry or a copy of printout referred to in sub-section (8) of Section 2 shall be accompanied by the following, namely:— (a) a certificate to the effect that it is a printout of such entry or a copy of such printout by the principal accountant or branch manager; and (b) a certificate by a person in-charge of computer system containing a brief description of the computer system and the particulars of— (A) the safeguards adopted by the system to ensure that data is entered or any other operation performed only by authorised persons; (B) the safeguards adopted to prevent and detect unauthorised change of data; (C) the safeguards available to retrieve data that is lost due to systemic failure or any other reasons; (D) the manner in which data is transferred from the system to removable media like floppies, discs, tapes or other electro-magnetic data storage devices; (E) the mode of verification in order to ensure that data has been accurately transferred to such removable media; (F) the mode of identification of such data storage devices; (G) the arrangements for the storage and custody of such storage devices; (H) the safeguards to prevent and detect any tampering with the system; and (I) any other factor which will vouch for the integrity and accuracy of the system. (c) a further certificate from the person in-charge of the computer system to the effect that to the best of his knowledge and belief, such computer system operated properly at the material time, he was provided with all the relevant data and the printout in question represents correctly, or is appropriately derived from, the relevant data.".

SCHEDULE 4 THE FOURTH SCHEDULE

(See Section 94) AMENDMENT TO THE RESERVE BANK OF INDIA ACT, 1934 (2 of 1934) In the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, in Section 58, in sub-section (2), after clause (p), the following clause shall be inserted, namely :— "(pp) the regulation of fund transfer through electronic means between the banks or between the banks and other financial institutions referred to in clause (c) of Section 45-1, including the laying down of the conditions subject to which banks and other financial institutions shall participate in such fund transfers, the manner of such fund transfers and the rights and obligations of the participants in such fund transfers;".

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE OF ADJUDICATING OFFICERS AND MANNER OF HOLDING ENQUIRY) RULES, 2003

G.S.R. 220(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by Clauses (p) & (q) of sub-sec. (2) of Sec. 87 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000), the Central Government

RULE 1 SHORT TITLE AND COMMENCEMENT. 

(a) These rules may be called the Information Technology (Qualification and Experience of Adjudicating Officers and Manner of Holding Enquiry) Rules, 2003. 

(b) These shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

RULE 2 DEFINITIONS. 

—In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires—

(a) "Act" means the information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000); 

(b) "Adjudicating Officer" means an adjudicating officer appointed under sub-sec. 

(1) of Sec. 46 of the Act. 

(c) "Proforma" means a proforma appended to these rules. 

(d) Words and expressions used herein and not defined but defined in the Act shall have the meaning respectively assigned to them in the Act. 

RULE 3 ELIGIBILITY FOR ADJUDICATING OFFICER. 

—Whereas the purpose and intent of Sec. 46(3) of IT Act is that the Adjudicating Officer should be a person so qualified and experienced to take decisions with a view in relation to Information Technology aspects as well as in a position to determine the complaints keeping in view the legal or judicial mannerism on the principle of compensation of damages of IT Act. A person shall not be qualified for appointment as Adjudicating Officer unless the person—

(a) Possesses a University Graduate Bachelor Degree or equivalent, recognized by Central Government/State Government for the purpose of recruitment to grade I Service in a Government Department through Union/State Public Service Commission; 

(b) Possesses Information Technology experience in the areas of relevance to public interface with Central/State Government functioning and experience obtained though the in-service training imparting competence to operate computer system to send and receive e-mails or other information through the computer network, exposure and awareness about the method of carrying information, data, sound, images or other electronic records through the medium of network including internet. 

(c) Possesses legal or judicial experience to discharge responsibilities connected with the role of Central/State Government in respect of making decisions or orders in relation to administration of laws as a District Magistrate, or Additional District Magistrate or Sub-Divisional Magistrate or an Executive Magistrate or in other administrative or quasi-judicial capacity for a cumulative period of 5 years; 

(d) Is working and holding a post in Grade I in Government Department either in 1 [Central Government/State Government/Union Territories ] to perform functional duty & discharge job responsibility in the field of Information Technology; 

(e) Is an in-service officer not below the rank of Director to the Government of India or an equivalent officer of State Government. 

RULE 4 SCOPE AND MANNER OF HOLDING INQUIRY. 

(a) The Adjudicating Officers shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of the contraventions in relation to Chapter IX of IT Act 2000 and the matter or matters or places or area or areas in a State or Union Territory of the posting of the person. 

(b) The complaint shall be made to the Adjudicating Officer of the State or Union Territory on the basis of location of Computer System, Computer Network as defined in sub-sec. 2 of Sec. 75 of IT Act on a plain paper on the Proforma attached to these Rules together with the fee payable calculated on the basis of damages claimed by way of compensation. 

(c) The Adjudicating Officer, shall issue a notice together with all the documents to all the necessary parties to the proceedings, fixing a date and time for further proceedings. The notice shall contain such particulars as far as may be as to the time and place of the alleged contravention, and the person (if any) against whom, or the thing (if any) in respect of which, it was committed. 

(d) On the date so fixed, the Adjudicating Officer shall explain to such person or persons to whom notice is issued about the contravention alleged to have been committed in relation to any of the provisions of the Act or of any rule, regulation, direction or order made there under. 

(e) If the person in respect of whom notice is issued pleads guilty, the Adjudicating Officer shall record the plea, and may impose penalty or award such compensation as he thinks fit in accordance with the provisions of the Act, rules regulations, order and directions made there under. 

(f) Alternatively on the date fixed the person or persons against whom a matter is filed may show cause why an enquiry should not be held in the alleged contravention or that why the report alleging the contravention should be dismissed. 

(g) The Adjudicating Officer on the basis of the report of the matter, investigation report (if any), other documents and on the basis of submissions shall form an opinion that there is sufficient cause for holding an enquiry or that the report into the matter should be dismissed and on that basis shall either by order dismiss the report of the matter, or shall determine to hear the matter. 

(h) If any person or persons fails, neglects or refuses to appear, or present himself as required by sub-rule (d), before the Adjudicating Officer, the Adjudicating Officer shall proceed with the inquiry in the absence of such person or persons after recording the reasons for doing so. 

(i) At any time or on receipt of a report of contravention from an aggrieved person, or by a Government agency or suo-moto, the Adjudicating Officer, may get the matter or the report investigated from an officer in the Office of Controller or CERT-IND or from the concerned Deputy Superintendent of Police, to ascertain more facts and whether prima facie there is a case for adjudicating on the matter or not. 

(j) The Adjudicating Officer, shall fix a date and time for production of documents or evidence and for this purpose may also rely on electronic records or communications and as far as may be, shall use or make available the infrastructure for promoting on-line settlement of enquiry or disputes or for taking evidence including the services of an adjudicating officer and infrastructure in another State. 

(k) As far as possible, every application shall be heard and decided in four months and the whole matter in six months. 

(l) Adjudicating Officer, when convinced that the scope of the case extends to the Offence(s) (under Chapter XI of IT Act) instead of Contravention, needing appropriate punishment instead of mere financial penalty, should transfer the case to the Magistrate having jurisdiction to try the case, through Presiding Officer. 

RULE 5 ORDER OF THE ADJUDICATING OFFICER. 

(a) If, upon consideration of the evidence produced before the Adjudicating Officer and other records and submissions, the Adjudicating Officer is satisfied that the person has become liable to pay damages by way of compensation or to pay penalty under any of the provisions of the Act or rules, regulations, directions or orders, the Adjudicating Officer may, by order in writing, order payment of damages by way of compensation or impose such penalty, as deemed fit. 

(b) While adjudging the quantum of compensation or penalty, the Adjudicating Officer shall have due regard to the following factors, namely : 

(i) the amount of gain of unfair advantage, wherever quantifiable, made as a result of the default; 

(ii) the amount of loss caused to any person as a result of the default; 

(iii) the repetitive nature of the default. 

RULE 6 COPY OF THE ORDER.

—Adjudicating Officers shall deliver a certified copy of the order to the Complainant & Respondent.

RULE 7 SERVICE OF NOTICES AND ORDERS.

—A notice or an order issued under these rules shall be served on the person in any of the following manners, that is to say :— (a) by delivering or tendering it to that person or the person's authorized agent in an electronic form provided that there is sufficient evidence of actual delivery of the electronic record to the concerned person; or (b) by sending it to the person by registered post with acknowledgment due to the address of his place of residence or the last known place of residence or business place; (c) if it cannot be served under clause (a) or (b) above then by affixing it, in the presence of two witnesses, on the outer door or some other conspicuous part of the premises in which that person resides or is known to have last resided, or carried on business or personally works or last worked for gain.

RULE 8 FEE.

—Every complaint of a matter to the Adjudicating Officer shall be accompanied by fee, payable by a bank draft drawn in favour of "Adjudicating Officer Information Technology Act" at the place of functioning of Adjudicating Officer in the States or Union Territories, calculated on the basis of the damages claimed by way of compensation from the contraveners on the rates provided below.

RULE 9 DUPLICITY AVOIDED.

—When an adjudication into a matter of contravention is pending before an Adjudicating Officer, same matter shall not be pursued before any Court or Tribunal or Authority in any proceeding whatsoever and if there is already filed a report in relation to the same matter, the proceedings before such other Court, Tribunal or Authority shall be deemed to be withdrawn.

RULE 10 FRIVOLOUS COMPLAINTS.

—If a person files a frivolous report of the matter, the adjudicating officer in his discretion may order the complainant, to make good the cost of the persons against whom the complaint was filed and to pay a damage of not exceeding Rupees Twenty Five Thousand and the adjudicating officer may also order payment of a fine up to an amount not exceeding Rupees Ten Thousand only.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (CERTIFYING AUTHORITIES) RULES, 2000

In exercise of the powers conferred by

Section 87 of the Information Technology Act, 2000(21 of 2000), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules regulating the application and other guidelines for Certifying Authorities, namely:-

RULE 1. SHORT TITLE AND COMMENCEMENT

(1) These rules may be called the Information Technology (Certifying Authorities) Rules, 2000.

(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

RULE 2. DEFINITIONS 

-In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,-

(a) "Act" means the Information Technology Act, 2000- (21 of 2000); 

(b) "applicant" means Certifying Authority applicant; 

(c) "auditor" means any internationally accredited computer security professional or agency appointed by the Certifying Authority and recognized by the Controller for conducting technical audit of operation of Certifying Authority; 

(d) "Controller" means Controller of Certifying Authorities appointed under sub-section (1) of Section 17- of the Act; 

(e) "Digital Signature Certificate" means Digital Signature Certificate issued under sub-section (4) of Section 35- of the Act; 

(f) "information asset" means all information resources utilized in the course of any organisation's business and includes all information, applications (software developed or purchased), and technology (hardware, system software and networks); 

(g) "licence" means a licence granted to Certifying Authorities for the issue of Digital Signature Certificates under these rules; 

(h) "licensed Certifying Authority" means Certifying Authority who has been granted a licence to issue Digital Signature Certificates; 

(i) "person" shall include an individual; or a company or association or body of individuals; whether incorporated or not; or Central Government or a State Government or any of the Ministries or Departments, Agencies or Authorities of such Governments; 

(j) "Schedule" means a schedule annexed to these rules; 

(k) "subscriber identity verification method" means the method used to verify and authenticate the identity of a subscriber; 

(l) "trusted person" means any person who has- direct responsibilities for the day-to-day operations, security and performance of those business activities that are regulated under the Act or these rules in respect of a Certifying Authority; or (ii) duties directly involving the issuance, renewal, suspension, revocation of Digital Signature Certificates (including the identification of any person requesting a Digital Signature Certificate from a licensed Certifying Authority), creation of private keys or administration of a Certifying Authority's computing facilities. 

(m) words and expressions used herein and not defined but defined in Schedule-IV shall have the meaning respectively assigned to them in that schedule. 

RULE 3. THE MANNER IN WHICH INFORMATION BE AUTHENTICATED BY MEANS OF DIGITAL SIGNATURE 

-A Digital Signature shall,-

(a) be created and verified by cryptography that concerns itself with transforming electronic record into seemingly unintelligible forms and back again; 

(b) use what is known as "Public Key Cryptography", which employs an algorithm using two different but mathematical related "keys" - one for creating a Digital Signature or transforming data into a seemingly unintelligible form, and another key for verifying a Digital Signature or returning the electronic record to original form, the process termed as hash function shall be used in both creating and verifying a Digital Signature. 

Explanation: Computer equipment and software utilizing two such keys are often termed as "asymmetric cryptography". 

RULE 4. CREATION OF DIGITAL SIGNATURE

-To sign an electronic record or any other item of information, the signer shall first apply the hash function in the signer's software; the hash function shall compute a hash result of standard length which is unique (for all practical purposes) to the electronic record; the signer's software transforming the hash result into a Digital Signature using signer's private key; the resulting Digital Signature shall be unique to both electronic record and private key used to create it; and the Digital Signature shall be attached to its electronic record and stored or transmitted with its electronic record.

RULE 5. VERIFICATION OF DIGITAL SIGNATURE 

-The verification of a Digital Signature shall be accomplished by computing a new hash result of the original electronic record by means of the hash function used to create a Digital Signature and by using the public key and the new hash result, the verifier shall check-

(i) if the Digital Signature was created using the corresponding private key; and 

(ii) if the newly computed hash result matches the original result which was transformed into Digital Signature during the signing process. The verification software will confirm the Digital Signature as verified if- 

(a) the signer's private key was used to digitally sign the electronic record, which is known to be the case if the signer's public key was used to verify the signature because the signer's public key will verify only a Digital Signature created with the signer's private key; and 

(b) the electronic record was unaltered, which is known to be the case if the hash result computed by the verifier is identical to the hash result extracted from the Digital Signature during the verification process. 

RULE 6. STANDARDS

-The Information Technology (IT) architecture for Certifying Authorities may support open standards and accepted de facto standards; the most important standards that may be considered for different activities associated with the Certifying Authority's functions are as under : ______________________________________________________________________ The product The standard _____________________________________________________________________ Public Key Infrastructure PKIX Digital Signature Certificates and X.509. Version 3 certificates as specified in ITU Digital Signature revocation list RFC 1422 ______________________________________________________________________ Directory (DAP and LDAP) X500 for publication of certificates and Certification Revocation Lists (CRLs) ______________________________________________________________________ Database Management Operations Use of generic SQL ______________________________________________________________________ Public Key algorithm DSA and RSA ______________________________________________________________________ Digital Hash Function MD5 and SHA-1 ______________________________________________________________________ RSA Public Key Technology PKCS# 1 RSA Encryption Standard (512, 1024, 2048 bit) PKCS# 5 Password Based Encryption Standard PKCS# 7 Cryptographic Message Syntax standard PKCS# 8 Private Key Information Syntax standard PKCS# 9 Selected Attribute Types PKCS# 10 RSA Certification Request PKCS# 12 Portable format for storing/transporting a user's private-keys and certificates ______________________________________________________________________ Distinguished name X.520 ______________________________________________________________________ Digital Encryption and Digital PKCS #7 Signature ______________________________________________________________________ Digital Signature Request Format PKCS #10. ______________________________________________________________________

RULE 7. DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATE STANDARD 

-All Digital Signature Certificates issued by the Certifying Authorities shall conform to ITU X.509 Version 3 standard as per Rule 6 - and shall inter alia contain the following data, namely:-

(a) Serial Number (assigning of serial number to the Digital Signature Certificate by Certifying Authority to distinguish it from other certificate); 

(b) Signature Algorithm Identifier (which identifies the algorithm used by Certifying Authority to sign the Digital Signature Certificate); 

(c) Issuer Name (name of the Certifying Authority who issued the Digital Signature Certificate); 

(d) Validity period of the Digital Signature Certificate; 

(e) Name of the subscriber (whose public key the Certificate identifies); and 

(f) Public Key information of the subscriber. 

RULE 8 LICENSING OF CERTIFYING AUTHORITIES 

(1) The following persons may apply for grant of a licence to issue Digital Signature Certificates, namely:- 

(a) an individual, being a citizen of India and having a capital of five crores of rupees or more in his business or profession; 

(b) a company having- 

(i) paid up capital of not less than five crores of rupees; and 

(ii) net worth of not less than fifty crores of rupees: 

Provided that no company in which the equity share capital held in aggregate by the non-resident Indians, Foreign Institutional Investors, or foreign companies, exceeds forty-nine per cent of its capital, shall be eligible for grant of licence: 

Provided further that in a case where the company has been registered under the Companies Act, 1956- (1 of 1956) during the preceding financial year or in the financial year during which it applies for grant of licence under the Act and whose main object is to act as Certifying Authority, the net worth referred to in sub-clause (ii) of this clause shall be the aggregate net worth of its majority shareholders holding at least 51% of paid equity capital, being the Hindu Undivided Family, firm or company: 

Provided also that the majority shareholders referred to in the second proviso shall not include non-resident Indian, foreign national, Foreign Institutional Investor and foreign company; 

Provided also that the majority shareholders of a company referred to in the second proviso whose net worth has been determined on the basis of such majority shareholders, shall not sell or transfer its equity shares held in such company- 

(i) unless such a company, acquires or has its own net worth of not less than fifty crores of rupees; 

(ii) without prior approval of the Controller; 

(c) a firm having- 

(i) capital subscribed by all partners of not less than five crores of rupees; and 

(ii) net worth of not less than fifty crores of rupees: 

Provided that no firm, in which the capital held in aggregate by any nonresident Indian, and foreign national, exceeds forty-nine per cent of its capital, shall be eligible for grant of licence: 

Provided further that in a case where the firm has been registered under the Indian Partnership Act, 1932- (9 of 1932) during the preceding financial year or in the financial year during which it applies for grant of licence under the Act and whose main object is to act as Certifying Authority, the net worth referred to in sub-clause (ii) of this clause shall be the aggregate net worth of all of its partners: 

Provided also that the partners referred to in the second proviso shall not include non-resident Indian and foreign national: 

Provided also that the partners of a firm referred to in the second proviso whose net worth has been determined on the basis of such partners, shall not sell or transfer its capital held in such firm- 

(i) unless such firm has acquired or has its own net worth of not less than fifty crores of rupees; 

(ii) without prior approval of the Controller; 

(d) Central Government or a State Government or any of the Ministries or Departments, Agencies or Authorities of such Governments. 

Explanation.-For the purpose of this rule,- 

(i) "company" shall have the meaning assigned to it in Clause 17 of Section 2 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961); 

(ii) "firm", "partner" and "partnership" shall have the meanings respectively assigned

to them in the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 (9 of 1932); but the expression "partner"

shall also include any person who, being a minor has been admitted to the benefits of partnership; 

(iii) "foreign company" shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (23-A) of Section 2 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961); 

(iv) "net worth" shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (ga) of sub-section (1)

of Section 3 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 (1 of 1986); 

(v) "Non-resident" shall have the meaning assigned to it as in Clause 26 of Section 2 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961). 

(2) The applicant being an individual, or a company, or a firm under sub-rule (1), shall submit a performance bond or furnish a banker's guarantee from a scheduled bank in favour of the Controller in such form and in such manner as may be approved by the Controller for an amount of not less than five crores of rupees and the performance bond or banker's guarantee shall remain valid for a period of six years from the date of its submission: 

Provided that the company and firm referred to in the second proviso to clause (b) and the second proviso to clause (c) of sub-rule (1) shall submit a performance bond or furnish a banker's guarantee for ten crores of rupees: 

Provided further that nothing in the first proviso shall apply to the company or firm after it has acquired or has its net worth of fifty crores of rupees. 

(3) Without prejudice to any penalty which may be imposed or prosecution may be initiated for any offence under the Act or any other law for the time being in force, the performance bond or banker's guarantee may be invoked- 

(a) when the Controller has suspended the licence under sub-section (2) of Section 25- of the Act; or 

(b) for payment of an offer of compensation made by the Controller; or 

(c) for payment of liabilities and rectification costs attributed to the negligence of the Certifying Authority, its officers or employees; or 

(d) for payment of the costs incurred in the discontinuation or transfer of operations of the licensed Certifying Authority, if the Certifying Authority's licence or operations is discontinued; or 

(e) any other default made by the Certifying Authority in complying with the provisions of the Act or rules made thereunder. 

Explanation.-"transfer of operation" shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (47) of Section 2 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961). 

RULE 9 LOCATION OF THE FACILITIES

-The infrastructure associated with all functions of generation, issue and management of Digital Signature Certificate as well as maintenance of Directories containing information about the status, and validity of Digital Signature Certificate shall be installed at any location in India.

RULE 10 SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION 

-Every application for a licensed Certifying Authority shall be made to the Controller,-

(i) in the form given at Schedule-1; and 

(ii) in such manner as the Controller may, from time to time, determine, supported by such documents and information as the Controller may require and it shall inter alia include- 

(a) a Certification Practice Statement (CPS); 

(b) a statement including the procedures with respect to identification of the applicant; 

(c) a statement for the purpose and scope of anticipated Digital Signature Certificate technology, management, or operations to be outsourced; 

(d) certified copies of the business registration documents of Certifying Authority that intends to be licensed; 

(e) a description of any event, particularly current or past insolvency, that could materially affect the applicant's ability to act as a Certifying Authority; 

(f) an undertaking by the applicant that to its best knowledge and belief it can and will comply with the requirements of its Certification Practice Statement; 

(g) an undertaking that the Certifying Authority's operation would not

commence until its operation and facilities associated with the functions of

generation, issue and management of Digital Signature Certificate are audited by the auditors and approved by the Controller in accordance with Rule 20- ; 

(h) an undertaking to submit a performance bond or banker's guarantee in

accordance with sub-rule (2) of Rule 8 - within one month of Controller

indicating his approval for the grant of licence to operate as a Certifying Authority; 

(i) any other information required by the Controller. 

RULE 11 FEE 

(1) The application for the grant of a licence shall be accompanied by a non- refundable fee of twenty-five thousand rupees payable by a bank draft or by a pay order drawn in the name of the Controller. 

(2) The application submitted to the Controller for renewal of Certifying Authority's licence shall be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of five thousand rupees payable by a bank draft or by a pay order drawn in the name of the Controller. 

(3) Fee or any part thereof shall not be refunded if the licence is suspended or revoked during its validity period. 

RULE 12 CROSS CERTIFICATION 

(1) The licensed Certifying Authority shall have arrangement for cross certification with other licensed Certifying Authorities within India which shall be submitted to the Controller before the commencement of their operations as per Rule 20- : 

Provided that any dispute arising as a result of any such arrangement between the Certifying Authorities; or between Certifying Authorities or Certifying Authority and the Subscriber, shall be referred to the Controller for arbitration or resolution. 

(2) The arrangement for Cross Certification by the licensed Certifying Authority with a Foreign Certifying Authority along with the application, shall be submitted to the Controller in such form and in such manner as may be provided in the regulations made by the Controller; and the licensed Certifying Authority shall not commence cross certification operations unless it has obtained the written or digital signature approval from the Controller. 

RULE 13 VALIDITY OF LICENCE

(1) A licence shall be valid for a period of five years from the date of its issue.

(2) The licence shall not be transferable.

RULE 14 SUSPENSION OF LICENCE

(1) The Controller may by order suspend the licence in accordance with the provisions contained in sub-section (2) of Section 25- of the Act.

(2) The licence granted to the persons referred to in clauses (a) to (c) of sub-rule (1) of Rule 8- shall stand suspended when the performance bond submitted or the banker's guarantee furnished by such persons is invoked under sub-rule (2) of that rule.

RULE 15 RENEWAL OF LICENCE

(1) The provisions of Rule 8- to Rule 13- , shall apply in the case of an application for renewal of a licence as it applies to a fresh application for licensed Certifying Authority.

(2) A Certifying Authority shall submit an application for the renewal of its licence not less than forty-five days before the date of expiry of the period of validity of licence.

(3) The application for renewal of licence may be submitted in the form of electronic record subject to such requirements as the Controller may deem fit.

RULE 16 ISSUANCE OF LICENCE 

(1) The Controller may, within four weeks from the date of receipt of the application, after considering the documents accompanying the application and such other factors, as he may deem fit, grant or renew the licence or reject the application: 

Provided that in exceptional circumstances and for reasons to be recorded in writing, the period of four weeks may be extended to such period, not exceeding eight weeks in all as the Controller may deem fit. 

(2) If the application for licensed Certifying Authority is approved, the applicant shall- 

(a) submit a performance bond or furnish a banker's guarantee within one month from the date of such approval to the Controller in accordance with subrule (2) of Rule 8 - ; and 

(b) execute an agreement with the Controller binding himself to comply with the terms and conditions of the licence and the provisions of the Act and the rules made thereunder. 

RULE 17 REFUSAL OF LICENCE 

-The Controller may refuse to grant or renew a licence if-

(i)the applicant has not provided the Controller with such information relating to its business, and to any circumstances likely to affect its method of conducting business, as the Controller may require; or 

(ii) the applicant is in the course of being wound-up or liquidated; or 

(iii) a receiver has, or a receiver and manager have, been appointed by the court in respect of the applicant; or 

(iv) the applicant or any trusted person has been convicted, whether in India or out of India, of an offence the conviction for which involved a finding that it or such trusted person acted fraudulently or dishonestly, or has been convicted of an offence under the Act or these rules; or 

(v) the Controller has invoked performance bond or banker's guarantee; or 

(vi) a Certifying Authority commits breach of, or fails to observe and comply with, the procedures and practices as per the Certification Practice Statement; or 

(vii) a Certifying Authority fails to conduct, or does not submit, the returns of the audit in accordance with Rule 31- ; or 

(viii) the audit report recommends that the Certifying Authority is not worthy of continuing Certifying Authority's operation; or 

(ix) a Certifying Authority fails to comply with the directions of the Controller. 

RULE 18 GOVERNING LAWS

-The Certification Practice Statement of the Certifying Authority shall comply with, and be governed by, the laws of the country.

RULE 19 SECURITY GUIDELINES FOR CERTIFYING AUTHORITIES 

(1) The Certifying Authorities shall have the sole responsibility of integrity, confidentiality and protection of information and information assets employed in its operation, considering classification, declassification, labelling, storage, access and destruction of information assets according to their value, sensitivity and importance of operation. 

(2) Information Technology Security Guidelines and Security Guidelines for Certifying Authorities aimed at protecting the integrity, confidentiality and availability of service of Certifying Authority are given in Schedule-11 and Schedule-Ill respectively. 

(3) The Certifying Authority shall formulate its Information Technology and Security Policy for operation complying with these guidelines and submit it to the Controller before commencement of operation; 

Provided that any change made by the Certifying Authority in the Information

Technology and Security Policy shall be submitted by it within two weeks to the Controller. 

RULE 20 COMMENCEMENT OF OPERATION BY LICENSED CERTIFYING AUTHORITIES 

-The licensed Certifying Authority shall commence its commercial operation of generation and issue of Digital Signature only after-

(a) it has confirmed to the Controller the adoption of Certification Practice Statement; 

(b) it has generated its key pair, namely, private and corresponding public key, and submitted the public key to the Controller; 

(c) the installed facilities and infrastructure associated with all functions of generation, issue and management of Digital Signature Certificate have been audited by the accredited auditor in accordance with the provisions of Rule 31- ; and 

(d) it has submitted the arrangement for cross certification with other licensed Certifying Authorities within India to the Controller. 

RULE 21 REQUIREMENTS PRIOR TO CESSATION AS CERTIFYING AUTHORITY 

-Before ceasing to act as a Certifying Authority, a Certifying Authority shall,-

(a) give notice to the Controller of its intention to cease acting as a Certifying Authority: 

Provided that the notice shall be made ninety days before ceasing to act as a Certifying Authority or ninety days before the date of expiry of licence; 

(b) advertise sixty days before the expiry of licence or ceasing to act as Certifying Authority, as the case may be, the intention in such daily newspaper or newspapers and in such manner as the Controller may determine; 

(c) notify its intention to cease acting as a Certifying Authority to the subscriber and Cross Certifying Authority of each unrevoked or unexpired Digital Signature Certificate issued by it: 

Provided that the notice shall be given sixty days before ceasing to act as a Certifying Authority or sixty days before the date of expiry of unrevoked or unexpired Digital Signature Certificate, as the case may be; 

(d) the notice shall be sent to the Controller, affected subscribers and Cross Certifying Authorities by digitally signed e-mail and registered post; 

(e) revoke all Digital Signature Certificates that remain unrevoked or unexpired at the end of the ninety days notice period, whether or not the subscribers have requested revocation; 

(f) make a reasonable effort to ensure that discontinuing its certification services causes minimal disruption to its subscribers and to persons duly needing to verify digital signatures by reference to the public keys contained in outstanding Digital Signature Certificates; 

(g) make reasonable arrangements for preserving the records for a period of seven years; 

(h) pay reasonable restitution (not exceeding the cost involved in obtaining the new Digital Signature Certificate) to subscribers for revoking the Digital Signature Certificates before the date of expiry; 

(i) after the date of expiry mentioned in the licence, the Certifying Authority shall destroy the certificate-signing private key and confirm the date and time of destruction of the private key to the Controller. 

RULE 22 DATABASE OF CERTIFYING AUTHORITIES 

-The Controller shall maintain a database of the disclosure record of every Certifying Authority, Cross Certifying Authority and Foreign Certifying Authority, containing inter alia the following details:

(a) the name of the person/names of the Directors, nature of business, Income-tax Permanent Account Number, web address, if any, office and residential address, location of facilities associated with functions of generation of Digital Signature Certificate, voice and facsimile telephone numbers, electronic mail address(es), administrative contacts and authorized representatives; 

(b) the public key(s), corresponding to the private key(s) used by the Certifying Authority and recognized foreign Certifying Authority to digitally sign Digital Signature Certificate; 

(c) current and past versions of Certification Practice Statement of Certifying Authority; 

(d) time stamps indicating the date and time of-

(i) grant of licence; 

(ii) confirmation of adoption of Certification Practice Statement and its earlier versions by Certifying Authority; 

(iii) commencement of commercial operations of generation and issue of Digital Signature Certificate by the Certifying Authority; 

(iv) revocation or suspension of licence of Certifying Authority; 

(v) commencement of operation of Cross Certifying Authority; 

(vi) issue of recognition of foreign Certifying Authority; 

(vii) revocation or suspension of recognition of foreign Certifying Authority. 

RULE 23 DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATE 

-The Certifying Authority shall, for issuing the Digital Signature Certificates, while complying with the provisions of Section 35 - of the Act, also comply with the following, namely-

(a) the Digital Signature Certificate shall be issued only after a Digital Signature Certificate application in the form provided by the Certifying Authority has been submitted by the subscriber to the Certifying Authority and the same has been approved by it: 

Provided that the application form contains, inter alia, the particulars given in the modal Form given in Schedule-IV; 

(b) no interim Digital Signature Certificate shall be issued; 

(c) the Digital Signature Certificate shall be generated by the Certifying Authority upon receipt of an authorised and validated request for- 

(i) new Digital Signature Certificates; 

(ii) Digital Signature Certificates renewal; 

(d) the Digital Signature Certificate must contain or incorporate, by reference such information, as is sufficient to locate or identify one or more repositories in which revocation or suspension of the Digital Signature Certificate will be listed, if the Digital Signature Certificate is suspended or revoked; 

(e) the subscriber identity verification method employed for issuance of Digital Signature Certificate shall be specified in the Certification Practice Statement and shall be subject to the approval of the Controller during the application for a licence; 

(f) where the Digital Signature Certificate is issued to a person (referred to in this clause as a New Digital Signature Certificate) on the basis of another valid Digital Signature Certificate held by the said person (referred in this clause as an Originating Digital Signature Certificate) and subsequently the originating Digital Signature Certificate has been suspended or revoked, the Certifying Authority that issued the new Digital Signature Certificate shall conduct investigations to determine whether it is necessary to suspend or revoke the new Digital Signature Certificate; 

(g) the Certifying Authority shall provide a reasonable opportunity for the subscriber to verify the contents of the Digital Signature Certificate before it is accepted; 

(h) if the subscriber accepts the issued Digital Signature Certificate, the Certifying Authority shall publish a signed copy of the Digital Signature Certificate in a repository; 

(i) where the Digital Signature Certificate has been issued by the licensed Cerfying Authority and accented by the subscriber, and the Certifying Authority comes to know of any fact, or otherwise, that affects the validity or reliability of such Digital Signature Certificate, it shall notify the same to the subscriber immediately; 

(j) all Digital Signature Certificates shall be issued with a designated expiry date. 

RULE 24 GENERATION OF DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATE 

-The generation of the Digital Signature Certificate shall involve:

(a) receipt of an approved and verified Digital Signature Certificate request; 

(b) creating a new Digital Signature Certificate; 

(c) binding the key pair associated with the Digital Signature Certificate to a Digital Signature Certificate owner; 

(d) issuing the Digital Signature Certificate and the associated public key for operational use; 

(e) a distinguished name associated with the Digital Signature Certificate owner; and 

(f) a recognized and relevant policy as defined in Certification Practice Statement. 

RULE 25 ISSUE OF DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATE 

-Before the issue of the Digital Signature Certificate, the Certifying Authority shall-

(i) confirm that the user's name does not appear in its list of compromised users; 

(ii) comply with the procedure as defined in his Certification Practice Statement including verification of identification and/or employment; 

(iii) comply with all privacy requirements; 

(iv) obtain a consent of the person requesting the Digital Signature Certificate, that the details of such Digital Signature Certificate can be published on a directory service. 

RULE 26 CERTIFICATE LIFETIME 

(1) A Digital Signature Certificate- 

(a) shall be issued with a designated expiry date; 

(b) which is suspended shall return to the operational use, if the suspension is withdrawn in accordance with the provisions of Section 37 - of the Act; 

(c) shall expire automatically upon reaching the designated expiry date at which time the Digital Signature Certificate shall be archived; 

(d) on expiry, shall not be re-used. 

(2) The period for which a Digital Signature Certificate has been issued shall not be extended, but a new Digital Signature Certificate may be issued after the expiry of such period. 

RULE 27 ARCHIVAL OF DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATE 

-A Certifying Authority shall archive-

(a) applications for issue of Digital Signature Certificates; 

(b) registration and verification documents of generated Digital Signature Certificates; 

(c) Digital Signature Certificates; 

(d) notices of suspension; 

(e) information of suspended Digital Signature Certificates; 

(f) information of revoked Digital Signature Certificates; 

(g) expired Digital Signature Certificates, for a minimum period of seven years or for a period in accordance with legal requirement. 

RULE 28 COMPROMISE OF DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATE 

-Digital Signature Certificates in operational use that become compromised shall be revoked in accordance with the procedure defined in the Certification Practice Statement of Certifying Authority.

Explanation: Digital Signature Certificates shall,- 

(a) be deemed to be compromised where the integrity of- 

(i) the private key associated with the Digital Signature Certificate is in doubt; 

(ii) the Digital Signature Certificate owner is in doubt, as to the use, or attempted use of his key pairs, or otherwise, for malicious or unlawful purposes; 

(b) remain in the compromised state for only such time as it takes to arrange for revocation. 

RULE 29 REVOCATION OF DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATE 

(1) Digital Signature Certificate shall be revoked and become invalid for any trusted use, where- 

(a) there is a compromise of the Digital Signature Certificate owner's private key; 

(b) there is a misuse of the Digital Signature Certificate; 

(c) there is a misrepresentation or errors in the Digital Signature Certificate; 

(d) the Digital Signature Certificate is no longer required. 

(2) The revoked Digital Signature Certificate shall be added to the Certificate Revocation List (CRL). 

RULE 30 FEES FOR ISSUE OF DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATE 

(1) The Certifying Authority shall charge such fee for the issue of Digital Signature Certificate as may be prescribed by the Central Government under sub-section (2) of Section 35- of the Act. 

(2) Fee may be payable in respect of access to Certifying Authority's X.500 directory for certificate downloading. Where fees are payable, Certifying Authority shall provide an up- to-date fee schedule to all its subscribers and users, this may be done by publishing fee schedule on a nominated website. 

(3) Fees may be payable in respect of access to Certifying Authority's X.500 directory service for certificate revocation or status information. Where fees are payable. Certifying Authority shall provide an up-to-date fee schedule to all its subscribers and users, this may be done by publishing the fee schedule on a nominated website. 

(4) No fee is to be levied for access to Certification Practice Statement via Internet. A fee may be charged by the Certifying Authority for providing printed copies of its Certification Practice Statement. 

RULE 31 AUDIT 

(1) The Certifying Authority shall get its operations audited annually by an auditor and such audit shall include inter alia,- 

(i) security policy and planning;  (ii) physical security;  (iii) technology evaluation; 

(iv) Certifying Authority's services administration; 

(v) relevant Certification Practice Statement; 

(vi) compliance to relevant Certification Practice Statement;  (vii) contracts/agreements;  (viii) regulations prescribed by the Controller;  (ix) policy requirements of Certifying Authorities Rules, 2000. 

(2) The Certifying Authority shall conduct,- 

(a) half yearly audit of the Security Policy, physical security and planning of its operation; 

(b) a quarterly audit of its repository. 

(3) The Certifying Authority shall submit copy of each audit report to the Controller within four weeks of the completion of such audit and where irregularities are found, the Certifying Authority shall take immediate appropriate action to remove such irregularities. 

RULE 32 AUDITOR'S RELATIONSHIP WITH CERTIFYING AUTHORITY

(1) The auditor shall be independent of the Certifying Authority being audited and shall not be a software or hardware vendor which is, or has been providing services or supplying equipment to the said Certifying Authority.

(2) The auditor and the Certifying Authority shall not have any current or planned financial, legal or other relationship, other than that of an auditor and the audited party.

RULE 33 CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 

-The following information shall be confidential namely-

(a) Digital Signature Certificate application, whether approved or rejected; 

(b) Digital Signature Certificate information collected from the subscriber or elsewhere as part of the registration and verification record but not included in the Digital Signature Certificate information; 

(c) subscriber agreement. 

RULE 34 ACCESS TO CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 

(1) Access to confidential information by Certifying Authority's operational staff shall be on a "need-to-know" and "need-to-use" basis. 

(2) Paper based records, documentation and backup data containing all confidential information as prescribed in Rule 33- shall be kept in secure and locked container or filing system, separately from all other records. 

(3) The confidential information shall not be taken out of the country except in a case where a properly constitutional warrant or other legally enforceable document is produced to the Controller and he permits to do so. 

CYBER REGULATIONS APPELLATE TRIBUNAL (PROCEDURE) RULES, 2000

G.S.R. 791 (E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by Sec. 87 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules, namely:—

RULE 1 SHORT TITLE AND COMMENCEMENT 

(1) These rules may be called the Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 2000. 

(2) They shall come into force on the date of publication in the Official Gazette. 

RULE 2 DEFINITIONS 

In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,—

(a) "Act" means the Information Technology Act, 2000; (21 of 2000); 

(b) "Agent" means a person duly authorised by a party to present an application or reply on its behalf before the Tribunal; 

(c) "application" means an application made to the Tribunal under Sec. 57. 

(d) "legal practitioner" shall have the same meaning as is assigned to it in the Advocates Act, 1961 (25 of 1971); 

(e) "Presiding Officer" means the Presiding Officer of the Tribunal; 

(f) "Registrar" means the Registrar of the Tribunal and includes any officer to whom the powers and functions of the Registrar may be delegated; 

(g) "registry" means the Registry of the Tribunal; 

(h) "section" means a section of the Act; 

(i) "transferred application"mesins the suit or other proceeding which has been transferred to the Tribunal under sub-sec. (1) of Sec. 29; 

(j) "Tribunal" means the Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal established under Sec. 8. 

RULE 3 PROCEDURE FOR FILLING APPLICATIONS 

(1) An application to the Tribunal shall be presented in Form 1 annexed to these rules by the applicant in person or by an agent or by a duly authorized legal practitioner, to the Registrar or sent by registered post addressed to the Registrar. 

(2) The application under sub-rule (1) shall be presented in six complete sets in a paper-book form along with one empty file size envelope bearing full address of the respondent. Where the number of respondents is more than one, sufficient number of extra paper-books together with required number of empty file size envelopes bearing the full address of each respondent shall be furnished by the applicant. 

(3) The applicant may attach to and present with his application a receipt slips as in Form No. 1 which shall be signed by the Registrar or the officer receiving the applications on behalf of-the Registrar in acknowledgment of the receipt of the application. 

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rules (1), (2) and (3), the Tribunal may permit :— 

(a) more than one person to joint together and file a single application if it is satisfied, having regard to the cause of action and the nature of relief prayed for, that they have the same interest in the service matter; or 

(b) An Association representing the persons desirous of joining in a single application provided, however, that the application shall disclose the names of all the persons on whose behalf it has been filed. 

RULE 4 PRESENTATION AND SCRUTINY OF APPLICATIONS 

(1) The Registrar, or the officer authorised by the Registrar shall endorse on every application the date on which it is presented or deemed to have been presented under that the rule and shall sign the endorsement. 

(2) If, on scrutiny, the application is found to be in order, it shall be duly registered and given as serial number. 

(3) If the application, on scrutiny, is found to be defective, and the defect noticed is formal in nature, the Registrar may allow the party to rectify the same in his presence, and if the said defect is not formal in nature, the Registrar may allow the applicant such time to rectify the defect as he may deem fit. 

(4) If the applicant fails to rectify the defect within the time allowed under sub-rule (3), the Registrar may, by order and for reasons to be recorded in writing, decline to register the application. 

(5) An appeal against the order of the Registrar under sub-rule (4) shall be made within 15 days of the making of such order to the Tribunal whose decision thereon shall be final. 

RULE 5 PLACE OF FILING APPLICATION

The applicant shall file application with the Registrar.

RULE 6 APPLICATION FEE

Every application filed with the Registrar shall be accompanied by a fee of Rs. 2,000/- (rupees two thousand) only which shall be either in the form of a crossed demand draft or a pay order drawn on a Scheduled Bank in favour of the Registrar and payable at New Delhi.

RULE 7 CONTENTS OF APPLICATION

(1) Every application filed under rule 3 shall set forth concisely under distinct heads, the grounds for such application and such grounds shall be numbered consecutively and typed in double space on one side of the paper.

(2) It shall not be necessary to present a separate application to seek an interim order or direction if the application contains a prayer seeking an interim order or direction pending final disposal of the application.

(3) An application may, subsequent to the filing of application under Sec. 57 of the Act, apply for an interim order or direction. Such an application shall, as far as possible, be in the same form as is prescribed for on application under Sec. 57 and shall be accompanied by a fee of Rs. 5/- (Rupees five only) which shall be payable in court fee stamps affixed on such application.

RULE 8 PAPER BOOK, ETC. TO ACCOMPANY THE APPLICATION 

(1) Every application shall be accompanied by a paper book containing:— 

(i) a certified copy of the order against which the application has been filed; 

(ii) copies of the documents relied upon by the applicant and referred to in the application; and 

(iii) an index of documents. 

(2) The documents referred to in sub-rule (1) may be attested by an advocate or by Gazetted Officer. 

(3) Where an application is filed by an agent, documents authorising him to act as such agent shall also be appended to the application : Provided that where an application is filed by an advocate it shall be accompanied by a duly executed 'vakalatnama'. 

RULE 9 PLURAL REMEDIES

An application shall be based upon a single cause of action and may seek one or more reliefs provided they are consequential to one another.

RULE 10 SERVICE OF NOTICE OF APPLICATION ON THE RESPONDENTS 

(1) A copy of the application in the paper-book shall ordinarily be served on each of the respondents by the Registrar in one of the following modes:— 

(i) hand delivery (dasti) through the applicant or through a process server; or 

(ii) through registered post with acknowledgement due. 

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1), the Registrar may, taking into account the number of respondents and their places of residence or work and other circumstances direct that notice of the application shall be served upon the respondents in any other manner including any manner of substituted service, as it appear to the Registrar just and convenient. 

(3) Every applicant shall pay a fee for the service or execution of process, in respect of an application where the number of respondents exceeds five, as under:— 

(i) a sum of Rs. 50 (Rupees fifty) for each respondent in excess of five respondents; or 

(ii) where the service is in such manner as the Registrar may direct under sub-

rule (2), a sum not exceeding the actual charges incurred in effecting the service as may be determined by the Registrar. 

(4) The fee for the service or execution of processes under sub-rule (3) shall be remitted by the applicant either in the form of a crossed Demand Draft drawn on a Scheduled Bank in favour of the Registrar and payable at the station where Registrar's office is situated or remitted through a crossed Indian Postal Order drawn in favour of the Registrar and payable in General Post Office of the station where the Tribunal is located. 

(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rules (1), (2), (3) and (4). if the Tribunal is satisfied that it is not reasonably practicable to serve notice of application upon all the respondents, if may for reasons to be recorded in writing, direct that the application shall be heard notwithstanding that some of the respondents have not been served with notice of the application, provided that no application shall be heard unless:— 

(i) notice of the application has been served on the Government, if Government is respondent; 

(ii) notice of the application has been served on the authority which passed the order against which the application has been filed; and 

(iii) the Tribunal is satisfied that the interests of the respondents on whom notice of the application has not been served are adequately and sufficiently represented by the respondents on whom notice of the application has been served. 

RULE 11 FILING OF REPLY AND OTHER DOCUMENTS BY THE RESPONDENT

(1) The respondent shall file six complete sets containing the reply to the application alongwith the documents in a paper-book form with the Registrar within one month of the date of service of the notice of the application on him.

(2) The respondent shall also serve a copy of the reply along with copies of documents as mentioned in sub-rule (1) to the applicant or his advocate, if any, and file proof of such service with the Registrar. The Tribunal may, on application by the respondent, allow filing of the reply after the expiry of the period of one month.

RULE 12 DATE AND PLACE OF HEARING TO HE NOTIFIED

The Tribunal shall notify to the parties the date and the place of hearing of the application.

RULE 13 SITTINGS OF THE TRIBUNAL

The Tribunal shall ordinarily hold its sittings at New Delhi: Provided that, if at any time, the Presiding Officer of the Tribunal is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary to have sittings of the Tribunal at any place other than New Delhi the Presiding Officer may direct to hold the sittings at any such appropriate place.

RULE 14 DECISION ON APPLICATIONS

(1) Tribunal shall draw up a calendar for the hearing of transferred cases and as far as possible hear and decide the cases according to the calendar.

(2) Every application shall be beared and decided, as far as possible, within six months of the date of its presentation.

(3) For purposes of sub-rules (1) and (2), the Tribunal shall have the power to decline an adjournment and to limit the time for oral arguments.

RULE 15 ACTION ON APPLICATION FOR APPLICANTS DEFAULT

(1) Where on the date fixed for hearing of the application or on any other date to which such hearing may be adjourned, the applicant does not appear when the application is called on for hearing, the Tribunal may, in its discretion, either dismiss the application for default or hear and decide it on merit.

(2) Where an application has been dismissed for default and the applicant appears afterwards and satisfies the Tribunal that there was sufficient cause for his non-appearance when the application was called on for hearing, the Tribunal shall make an order setting aside the order dismissing the application and restore the same.

RULE 16 HEARING ON APPLICATION EX-PARTE

(1) Where on the date fixed for hearing the application or on any other date to which hearing is adjourned, the applicant appears and the respondent does not appear when the application is called on for hearing, the Tribunal may, in its discretion, adjourn or hear and decide the application ex-parte.

(2) Where an application has been beared ex-parte against a respondent or respondents, such respondent or respondents may apply to the Tribunal for an order to set it aside and if such respondent or respondents satisfy the Tribunal that the notice was not duly served, or that he or they were prevented by any sufficient cause from appearing when the application was called on for hearing, the Tribunal may make an order setting aside the ex-purte hearing as against him or them upon such terms as it thinks fit, and shall appoint a day for proceeding with the application: Provided that where the ex-parte hearing of the application is of such nature that it cannot be set aside as against one respondent only. it may be set aside as against all or any of the other respondents also: Provided further that Tribunal shall not set aside ex-parte hearing of an application merely on the ground that there has been an irregularity in the service of notice, if it is satisfied that the respondent had notice of the date of hearing and had sufficient time to appear and answer the applicant's claim.

RULE 17 ADJOURNMENT OF APPLICATION

The Tribunal may on such terms as it deems fit and at any stage of the proceedings adjourn the hearing of the application.

RULE 18 ORDER TO BE SIGNED AND DATED

Every order of the Tribunal shall be in writing and shall be signed and dated by the Presiding Officer.

RULE 19 PUBLICATION OF ORDER

Such of the orders of the Tribunal as are deemed fit for publication in any report or the press may be released for such publication on such terms and conditions as the Tribunal may lay down.

RULE 20 COMMUNICATION OF ORDERS TO PARTIES

Every order passed on an application shall be communicated to the applicant and to the respondent either in person or by registered post free of cost.

RULE 21 NO FEE FOR INSPECTION OF RECORDS

No fee shall be charged for inspecting the records of a pending application by a party thereto.

RULE 22 ORDERS AND DIRECTIONS IN CERTAIN CASES

The Tribunal may make such orders or give such directions as may be necessary or expedient to give effect or in relation to its orders or to prevent abuse of its process or to secure the ends of justice.

RULE 23 REGISTRATION OF LEGAL PRACTITIONERS CLERKS 

(1) A clerk employed by a legal practitioner and permitted as such to have access to the records and to obtain copies of the orders of the Tribunal in which the legal practitioner ordinarily practices shall be known as a "registered clerk". 

(2) A legal practitioner desirous of registering his clerk shall make an application to the Registrar in Form 2. 

(3) A legal practitioner shall have at a time not more than two registered clerks unless the Registrar by general or special order otherwise permits. 

(4) A register of all the registered clerks shall, be maintained in the office of the Registrar and after registration of the clerk, the Registrar shall direct the issue of an identity card to him which shall be non-transferable and shall be produced by the holder upon request by an officer or any other employee of the Tribunal. 

(5) The identity card mentioned in sub-rule (4) shall be issued under the signatures of the Registrar of the Tribunal. 

(6) whenever a legal practitioner ceases to employ a registered clerk, he shall notify the fact at once to the Registrar by means of a letter enclosing therewith the identity card issued to his clerk and on receipt of such letter the name of the said registered clerk shall be struck off from the register. 

RULE 24 WORKING HOURS OF THE TRIBUNAL

Except on Saturday, Sundays and other holidays, the offices of the Tribunal shall, subject to any order made by the Presiding Officer, remain open daily from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. but no work, unless it is of an urgent nature, shall be admitted after 4.30 p.m. on any working day.

RULE 25 SITTING HOURS OF THE TRIBUNAL

The sitting hours of the Tribunal shall ordinarily be from 10.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. subject to any order made by the Chairman.

RULE 26 POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE REGISTRAR

(1) The Register shall have the custody of the records of the Tribunal and shall exercise such other functions as may be assigned to him under these rules or by the Presiding Officer.

(2) The Registrar may, with the approval of the Presiding Officer, delegate to another officer of the Tribunal any functions required by these rules to be exercised by the Registrar.

(3) In the absence of the Registrar, officer of the Tribunal authorised in writing by the Presiding Officer in his behalf may perform or exercise all or any of the functions and powers of the Registrar.

(4) The Registrar shall keep in his custody the official seal of the Tribunal.

(5) The Registrar shall, subject to any general or special direction by the Presiding Officer, affix the official seal of the Tribunal on any order, notice or other process.

(6) The Registrar shall have the power to authorise in writing the affixing of the seal of the Tribunal on a certified copy of any order of the Tribunal.

RULE 27 ADDITIONAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF REGISTRAR 

In addition to the powers conferred elsewhere in these rules, the Registrar shall have the following powers and duties subject to any general or special order of the Presiding Officer namely:—

(i) to receive all applications and other documents including transferred applications; 

(ii) to decide all questions arising out of the scrutiny of the applications before they are registered; 

(iii) to require any application presented to the Tribunal to be amended in accordance with the Act and the rules; 

(iv) subject to the directions of the Tribunal fix dates of hearing of the applications or other proceedings and issue notices thereof; 

(v) to direct any formal amendment of records; 

(vi) to order grant of copies of documents to parties to the proceedings; 

(vii) to dispose of all matters, relating to the service of notices of other processes, applications for the issue of fresh notices or for extending the time therefor; ' 

(viii) to requisition records from the custody of any Court or other authority; 

(ix) to receive applications for the substitution of legal representatives of the deceased parties, during the pendency of the application; 

(x) to receive and dispose of applications for substitution, except where the substitution would involve setting aside an order or abatement; and 

(xi) to receive and dispose of application by parties for return of documents. 

RULE 28 SEAL AND EMBLEM

The official seal and emblem of the Tribunal shall be such as the Government may specify.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (CERTIFYING AUTHORITY) REGULATIONS, 2001

Ministry of Information Technology, Noti. No. G.S.R. 512(E), dated July 9, 2001, published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 3(i), dated 9th July, 2001, pp. 25-44, No. 350 IF. No. 1(6)-/2001-CCA] In exercise of the powers conferred by clauses (c), (d), (e) and (g) of sub-section (2) of Section 89 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000), the Controller hereby, after consultation with the Cyber Regulations Advisory Committee and with the previous approval of the Central Government, makes the following regulations, namely:—

REGULATION 1. SHORT TITLE AND COMMENCEMENT

(1) These regulations may be called the Information Technology (Certifying Authority) Regulations, 2001.

(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

REGULATION 2. DEFINITIONS 

—In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,—

(a) "Act" means the Information Technology Act, 2000- (21 of 2000); 

(b) "Certifying Authority" means a person who has been granted a licence to issue a Digital Signature Certificate under Section 24- of the Act; 

(c) "Certificate Revocation List" means a periodically (or exigently) issued list, digitally signed by a Certifying Authority, of identified Digital Signature Certificates that have been suspended or revoked prior to their expiration dates; 

(d) "Controller" means the Controller of Certifying Authorities appointed under sub-section (1) of Section 17- of the Act;  

(e) "Form" means the form appended to these regulations; 

(f) "Public Key Certificate" means a Digital Signature Certificate issued by Certifying Authority; 

(g) "subscriber" means a person in whose name the Digital Signature Certificate is issued; 

(h) Words and expressions used herein and not defined, but defined in the Act, shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Act. 

REGULATION 3. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF LICENCE TO ISSUE DIGITAL SIGNATURE CERTIFICATE 

—Every licence to issue Digital Signature Certificates shall be granted under the Act subject to the following terms and conditions, namely:—

(i) General— 

(a) The licence shall be valid for a period of five years from the date of issue. 

(b) The licence shall not be transferable or heritable. 

(c) The Controller can revoke or suspend the licence in accordance with the provisions of the Act. 

(d) The Certifying Authority shall be bound to comply with all the parameters against which it was audited prior to issue of licence and shall consistently and continuously comply with those parameters during the period for which the licence shall remain valid. 

(e) The Certifying Authority shall subject itself to periodic audits to ensure that all conditions of the licence are consistently complied with by it. As the cryptographic components of the Certifying Authority systems are highly sensitive and critical, the components must be subjected to periodic expert review to ensure their integrity and assurance. 

(f) The Certifying Authority must maintain secure and reliable records and logs for activities that are core to its operations. 

(g) Public Key Certificates and Certificate Revocation Lists must be archived for a minimum period of seven years to enable verification of past transactions. 

(h) The Certifying Authority shall provide Time Stamping Service for its subscribers. Error of the Time Stamping clock shall not be more than 1 in 

(i) The Certifying Authority shall use methods, which are approved by the Controller, to verify the identity of a subscriber before issuing or renewing any Public Key Certificate. 

(j) The Certifying Authority shall publish a notice of suspension or revocation

of any certificate in the Certificate Revocation List in its repository immediately after receiving an authorised request of such suspension or revocation. 

(k) The Certifying Authority shall always assure the confidentiality of subscriber information. 

(l) All changes in Certificate Policy and certification practice statement shall be published on the web site of the Certifying Authority and brought to the notice of the Controller well in advance of such publication. However any change shall not contravene any provision of the Act, rule or regulation or made thereunder. 

(m) The Certifying Authority shall comply with every order or direction issued by the Controller within the stipulated period. 

(ii) Overall Management and Obligations— 

(a) The Certifying Authority shall manage its functions in accordance with the levels of integrity and security approved by the Controller from time to time. 

(b) The Certifying Authority shall disclose information on the assurance levels of the certificates that it issues and the limitations of its liabilities to each of its subscribers and relying parties. 

(c) The Certifying Authority shall as approved, in respect of security and risk management controls continuously ensure that security policies and safeguards

are in place. Such controls include personnel security and incident handling measures to prevent fraud and security breaches. 

(iii) Certificate and Key Management— 

(a) To ensure the integrity of its digital certificates, the Certifying Authority shall ensure the use of approved security controls in the certificate management processes, i.e. certificate registration, generation, issuance, publication, renewal, suspension, revocation and archival. 

(b) The method of verification of the identity of the applicant of a Public Key Certificates shall be commensurate with the level of assurance accorded to the certificate. 

(c) The Certifying Authority shall ensure the continued accessibility and availability of its Public Key Certificates and Certificate Revocation Lists in its repository to its subscribers and relying parties. 

(d) In the event of a compromise of the private key the Certifying Authority shall follow the established. procedures for immediate revocation of the affected subscribers' certificates. 

(e) The Certifying Authority shall make available the information relating to certificates issued and/or revoked by it to the Controller for inclusion in the National Repository. 

(f) The private key of the Certifying Authority shall be adequately secured at each phase of its life cycle, i.e. key generation, distribution, storage, usage, backup, archival and destruction. 

(g) The private key of the Certifying Authority shall be stored in high security module in accordance with FTPS 140-1 level 3 recommendations for Cryptographic Modules Validation List. 

(h) Continued availability of the private key be ensured through approved backup measures in the event of loss or corruption of its private key. 

(i) All submissions of Public Key Certificates and Certificate Revocation Lists to the National Repository of the Controller must ensure that subscribers and relying parties are able to access the National Repository using LDAP ver 3 for X.500 Directories. 

(j) The Certifying Authority shall ensure that the subscriber can verify the Certifying Authority's Public Key Certificate, if he chooses to do so, by having access to the Public Key Certificate of the Controller. 

(iv) Systems and Operations— 

(a) The Certifying Authority shall prepare detailed manuals for performing all its activities and shall scrupulously adhere to them. 

(b) Approved access and integrity controls such as intrusion detection, virus scanning,

prevention of denial of service attacks and physical security measures shall be

followed by the Certifying Authoiity for all its systems that store and process the subscribers' information and certificates. 

(c) The Certifying Authority shall maintain records of all activities and review . them regularly to detect any anomaly in the system. 

(v) Physical, procedural and personnel security— 

(a) Every Certifying Authority shall get an independent periodic audit done through

an approved auditor. Such periodic audits shall focus on the following issues among others:— 

(i) changes/additions in physical controls such as site location, access etc.; 

(ii) re-deployment of personnel from an approved role/task to a new one; 

(iii) appropriate security clearances for outgoing employees such as deletion of keys and all access privileges; 

(iv) thorough background checks, etc. during employment of new personnel. 

(b) The Certifying Authority shall follow approved procedures to ensure that all the activities referred to in (i) to (iv) in sub-regulation (a) are recorded properly and made available during audits. 

(vi) Financial— 

(a) Every Certifying Authority shall comply with all the financial parameters during the period of validity of the licence, issued under the Act. 

(b) Any loss to the subscriber, which is attributable to the Certifying Authority, shall be made good by the Certifying Authority. 

(vii) Compliance Audits— 

(a) The Certifying Authority shall subject itself to Compliance Audits that shall be carried out by one of the empanelled Auditors duly authorized by the Controller for the purpose. Such audits shall be based on the Internet Engineering Task Force document RFC 2527—Internet X. 509 PKI Certificate Policy and Certification Practices Framework. 

(b) If a Digital Signature Certificate issued by the Certifying Authority is found to be fictitious or that proper identification procedures have not been followed by the Certifying Authority while issuing such certificate, the Certifying Authority shall be liable for any losses resulting out of this lapse and shall be liable to pay compensation as decided by the Controller. 

REGULATION 5. EVERY CERTIFYING AUTHORITY SHALL DISCLOSE 

(1)  (a) Its Digital Signature Certificate which contains the public key corresponding to the private key used by that Certifying Authority to digitally sign another Digital Signature Certificate; 

(b) any Certification Practice Statement relevant thereto; 

(c) notice of the revocation or suspension of its Certifying Authority Certificate, if any; and 

(d) any other fact that materially or adversely affect either the reliability of a Digital Signature Certificate, which that Authority has issued by it or the Authority's ability to perform its services. 

(2) The above disclosure shall be made available to the Controller through filling up of online forms on the web site of the Controller on the date and time the information is made public. The Certifying Authority shall digitally sign the information. 

REGULATION 6. COMMUNICATION OF COMPROMISE OF PRIVATE KEY 

(1) Where the private key corresponding to the public key listed in the Digital Signature Certificate has been compromised, the subscriber shall communicate the same without any delay to the Certifying Authority. 

(2) An application for revocation of the key pair shall be made in Form online on the web site of the concerned Certifying Authority to enable revocation and publication in the Certificate Revocation List. The subscriber shall encrypt this transaction by using the public key of the Certifying Authority. The transaction shall be further authenticated with the private key of the subscriber even though it may have already been compromised. 

Footnotes:

1. In Section 1, sub-section (4), clause (a) shall be substituted by Negotiable Instruments (Amendment and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2002 (Act55 of 2002), published in the Gazette of India. Extra.. Part II, Section 1, dated 18th December, 2002, pp. 1-5, No. 67.

2. In Section 25 , sub-section (1), clause (c), shall be substituted by Information Technology (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2002. Published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 3(ii), dated 19th September, 2002, p. 2, No. 825

3. In Section 40 , the word "than", shall be omitted by Information Technology (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2002. Published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 3(ii), dated 19th September, 2002, p. 2, No. 825

4. In Section 40 , the word "the key", shall be substituted by Information Technology (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2002. Published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 3(ii), dated 19th September, 2002, p. 2, No. 825

5. In Section 42 , the word "to a person not authorised to affix the digital signature of the subscriber", shall be omitted by Information Technology (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2002. Published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 3(ii), dated 19th September, 2002, p. 2, No. 825

6. In Section 63 , the word "Chapter", shall be substituted by Information Technology (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2002. Published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 3(ii), dated 19th September, 2002, p. 2, No. 825

7. Section 8A1, shall be inserted by Negotiable Instruments (Amendment and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2002 (Act55 of 2002), published in the Gazette of India. Extra.. Part II, Section 1, dated 18th December, 2002, pp. 1-5, No. 67.

8. In Section 89 , the brackets and letter "(m)", shall be substituted by Information Technology (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2002. Published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 3(ii), dated 19th September, 2002, p. 2, No. 825