Cyber Laws For CxO
Be Aware... Be Empowered
March 2010
Editor
Naavi
www.naavi.org
Publisher
Ujvala Consultants Pvt Ltd
www.ujvala.com
Editor’s Note
Dear Readers,
Effectiveness of any legislation is measured by the ease with which the intended beneficiary of the legislation can invoke legal remedies and obtain relief. It is under this concept that we need to appreciate the thoughtful provision of the system of Adjudication as the exclusive grievance redressal mechanism suggested under ITA 2000 under Chapter IX in 2000.
It however took nearly three years after the legislation came into effect for the first set of Adjudicators to be appointed in India under the directions from the Bombay High Court when the Government decided to appoint the IT Secretaries of every State and Union Territory as the Adjudicators for the respective State. The office of the Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal (CRAT) however remained vacant until 2008 when Justice Sri Rajesh Tandon was appointed as the first Presiding Officer of CRAT.
The Adjudication was meant to provide simplicity to the judicial process for claiming compensation for contraventions under Section 43 by the public. It was a process which was meant to be on a “Fast Track” and avoid the delays inherent in the Civil Litigation process in India. The procedure was flexible enough to adopt the best practices of ADR and was freed from the strict regime of the Civil Procedure Code.
Despite these beneficial aspects of the Adjudication System, the undersigned believes that the system has not been used as widely and frequently as it should have been. One of the reasons for this is perhaps the lack of awareness of the process amongst the victims and the legal practitioners.
What is however not very pleasing is that many cases which ought to have been tried by the Adjudicators have been tried at other forums which had no jurisdiction to try the cases. Some of the cases were taken to Consumer Courts since the dispute involving intermediaries often manifests as an apparent service deficiency though it is actually a contravention of the Act. Even several High Courts which ought to have understood the jurisdictional limitations imposed in the ITA 2000 have on occasions appeared to ignore the same and taken up cases for trial which ought to have been taken up by adjudicators.
This issue is meant to increase the awareness of the system of adjudication in the IT industry so that a more effective use of the system can be made by the market. At the same time this issue pries open some of the grey areas in the system which require certain clarifications.
We are happy that this issue carries the interview of Justice Sri Rajesh Tandon who has actually expanded the role of the Adjudication system by expressing a view that Adjudicators can also take on trial offences under Chapter XI of ITA 2000. He has also indicated that on May 1 and 2, 2010, he has organized a meet of all the “Adjudicators” to further the awareness of the system. It is a welcome move which I have been suggesting for several years.
Na.Vijayashankar
March 21, 2010
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