Govt mulls review of IT Act, more laws on card

CYBER LAWS: Laws put cyber crime on the same level as cognisable offences like rape and murder.

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Keywords: Email, Chat

New Delhi The Information Technology Act meant to safeguard interests of Internet users was passed in 2000. Under the act, law enforcement agencies are given all powers to book cyber criminals. But seven years later, there have been just two convictions. The Government is now planning to review this virtual act and make it more realistic.

Picture this - you are sitting in a public place surfing the net and a senior police officer walks in and arrests you.

Impossible, you might think, but Section 80 of the Information Technology Act 2000 allows for just that.

The section gives senior police officers the power to search any public place and to arrest any person without a warrant on the suspicion that the person is involved in a cyber crime.

In essence, it puts cyber crime on the same level as cognisable offences like rape and murder.

Experts say the section is often subject to abuse after all anybody could be about to commit a crime.

Cyber Crime Expert Pavan Duggal says, “Power of trying to arrest somebody who is about to commit a cyber crime is amenable to huge amounts of abuse."

A Parliamentary panel that reviewed the IT Act had recommended that Section 80 be scrapped and Officials from the Department of Information Technology say a decision could be taken as early as next month.

Dr Vijayaditya from Ministry of Communications and IT says, “It requires certain modifications and the Government has really looked at it and considered it necessary to have a re-look at it and make some modifications.”

These changes could give the IT act more teeth because the Parliamentary panel is suggesting that planning a crime on cyberspace should have the same punishment as the crime itself.

This would include hauling up service providers for crimes committed through e-mail and chat.