Indian Telegraph Act
| Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Enacted by | Parliament of India |
| Status: In force | |
The Indian Telegraph Act, 1883 is the enabling legislation in India which governs the use of wired and wireless telegraphy, telephones, teletype, radio communications and digital data communications. It gives the Government of India exclusive jurisdiction and privileges for establishing, maintaining, operating, licensing and oversight of all forms of wired and wireless communications within Indian territory. It also authorizes government law enforcement agencies to monitor/intercept communications and tap phone lines under conditions defined within the Indian Constitution. The act came into force on October 1, 1885. Since that time, numerous amendments have been passed to update the act to respond to changes in technology.
The Indian Telegraph Act, passed in 1883, was intended to give the Central Government power to establish telegraph lines on private as well as public property. At the time the Act was conceived, India was still under the rule of the British Raj. Telegraph was first installed in 1851 and a trans-India telegraph was completed three years later in 1854. The telegraph had become, in the intervening thirty years, an important tool for British dominion over India by quelling rebellions and consolidating information. It thus was important for the British to control of telegraphy and infrastructure across the subcontinent.
Indian laws do not allow disclosure of information pertaining to court authorised interception and communications data. “Section 5 (2) of the Indian Telegraph Act 1885 – read with rule 419 (A) of Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Rules 2007 obliges telecommunications service providers to maintain extreme secrecy in matters concerning lawful interception. Further, under Rule 25(4) of the IT (Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules, 2009 (Interception Rules) and Rule 11 of the IT (Procedure and Safeguards for Monitoring and Collecting Traffic Data or Information) Rules, 2009 (the ‘Traffic Data Rules’), ‘strict confidentiality shall be maintained’ in respect of directions for lawful interception, monitoring, decryption or collection of data traffic,”
The ownership and operation of satellite communications systems and amateur radio equipment is strictly regulated in India.
Satellite phones have to either be purchased in India from an authorised distributor or can be imported into India after receiving permission from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Use of Thuraya & Iridium satellite phones and infrastructure is illegal in India.
...
Wikipedia