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Cabinet okays tabling of landmark IT bill

The Union Cabinet today approved the proposal to introduce the Information Technology Bill 1999 in the next session (November 29-December 23) of Parliament to facilitate electronic communication, trade and commerce and prevent computer crime in public and private through a legal regime.

Information technology has a profound effect on economy, trade and commerce with the Internet being used progressively for a variety of purposes like sending email, creating Web pages, advertisements, bulletin boards and most importantly electronic commerce.

By the turn of century, e-commerce transactions in the world are likely to exceed 20 per cent of the total transactions, according to estimates.

At present, many legal rules assume existence of paper records and documents, signed records and original records. The law of evidence traditionally relies on paper records as well as on oral testimony and all kinds of physical objects.

The Internet is a completely global entity with no international borders. Issues such as primary/secondary evidence, jurisdiction, origination, authetication, privacy protection, intellectual property and computer crimes, and therefore, assume importance in an electronic communication, e-commerce or Internet-based transactions.

Clearly, the establishment of a legal regime that addresses these issues is a critical concern for the country.

The scope of initiatives in this regard taken elsewhere in the world varies from country to country, the most significant efforts are both related to electronic contracting, requirements pertaining to origination, authentication and regulation to prevent computer crimes and protect privacy.

Many countries participating significantly in global trade have brought out suitable changes in their existing legislation and enacted new laws to meet the requirement.

Proliferation of information technology in the society has raised a number of legal issues. Many legal rules assume the existence of paper records and documents, signed records, original records, physical cash, cheques and face-to-face meeting.

As more and more activities are carried out by electronic means, it becomes important that evidence of these activities be available to demonstrate legal rights and obligations that flow from them.

The bill proposes amendments to the existing Acts such as the Indian Evidence Act 1872, Indian Penal Code 1860, Section 2 of the Banker's Book Evidence Act and the RBI Act, 1934.

The Information Technology Bill provides for legal framework so that the information is not denied legal effect, validity or enforceability solely on the ground that it is in the form of electronic records. The bill provides that, unless otherwise agreed, an acceptance of contract maybe expressed by electronic means of communication.

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