Three years after the passage of the ITA-2000 in the then Parliament in May 2000, India now has the "Adjudicating Officers" (AO) appointed under Section 46 of the Act.

The search to find the right candidate with the legal and IT background in the rank of a Director in the Government, was  tough and until the Mumbai High Court brought pressure on the Government, the decision was hard to come by. Ultimately, it has been decided that the Secretary to the Information Technology Department in each state by designation would be appointed as the AO for each state. A notification to this effect was issued on March 25th 2003.

Just preceding the notification of appointment of AOs, the Government (Ministry of Communication and Information Technology-MCIT) has also notified on 17th March 2003,  the procedures to be followed in the enquiry process of the AO.

A brief description of the action to be taken by a prospective complainant is given below for general guidance of the public in the form of an FAQ covering the main aspects of the process.

(Disclaimer: These are early days of the development of a new system of grievance redressal for Cyber Crimes. The following guideline is the initial prescription of Naavi and some of the thoughts expressed here arise out of the interpretations of the Act and the Notification. These will be further refined after the AOs finalize the operating part of their procedures).

The FAQ covers the following immediate questions to which more will be added with the feedback received from the public.

1. What are the Categories of Complaints that are covered by the Adjudication Process?

2. To whom shall the complaint be made?

3. What is the format of the application?

4. What is the fee to be paid? and How?

5. What are the consequences of a "Frivolous Complaint"?

6.What are the evidences to be presented while filing a complaint?

7. How long does the Adjudication process may take?

8. What kind of compensation can one expect?

9. What if the order is not satisfactory?

10.Is it necessary to physically be present for enquiry?

11. What if the complainant does not know the suspect?

12. Can a complainant be represented by a consultant during the enquiry?

.....And More

Readers are requested to send their views as well as other questions so that the FAQ can be expanded. 

Click Her for the FAQ on Adjudication

Naavi

April 27,2003

 

---

---

Send Your Views if any to Naavi

.