The Hindu Business Line : Cyber tribunal may be expanded

The department is still looking at incorporating certain new amendments, including expanding the strength of the proposed Cyber Appellate Tribunal to three members.

New Delhi , Dec. 26

THE Department of Information Technology is planning to expand the composition of the proposed `Cyber Appellate Tribunal' under IT Act 2000, in addition to the amendments recommended by an expert group, and circulate the draft document to various Ministries for their comments next month.

"The department is still looking at incorporating certain new amendments, including expanding the strength of the proposed Cyber Appellate Tribunal to three members from the existing clause of one member tribunal. After looking into these new amendments, we plan to circulate, during the first half of January, the draft note to various Ministries for their comments," sources said.

As per the IT Act, 2000 the tribunal "shall consist of one person only (referred to as the Presiding Officer of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal) to be appointed by notification, by the Central Government." The IT Act further states that "a person would not be qualified for the post of Presiding Officer unless he is, or has been, or is qualified to be a judge of a high court; or is/has been a member of Indian legal service and is holding or has held a post in Grade I of that service for at least three years."

"Given the technical nature of the sector, it would be fitting to have another member who is well versed with technologies, while the third member could be an expert in law," sources added.

According to the Act, any person aggrieved by an order made by Controller or an adjudicating officer under the IT Act can appeal to the tribunal. Although the `Cyber Appellate Tribunal' was conceived under IT Act 2000, it is yet to become functional.

Also in the offing, is a specific section that would enable delivery of e-governance services by the Government or authorised service providers, and would also facilitate collection of fee for delivery of such services.

"We are still receiving comments on the proposed amendment and most recently, US India Business Council, has given its feedback," sources said adding that the council had offered suggestions pertaining to breach of confidentiality and privacy, limitation of liability of intermediary, and child pornography, amongst others.

These changes being mulled by IT Department are in addition to the suggestions by an expert group constituted for an in-depth review of issues relating to IT Act, which had submitted its report to the Government in August this year. Subsequently, the department had sought to tighten the proposed amendments and had favoured increasing the punishment for certain kinds of offence, including unauthorised access, downloading, copying or extracting information from a computer resource.