abhishreshthaa
Abhijeet S
The Bill seeks to replace the Telegraph Act of 1985, the Indian Wireless Act of 1933, the Telegraph Wire Unlawful Possession Act of 1950 and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act of 1997. The Prashar Bharati Act is not covered under the Bill. It seeks to provide powers to a Communications Commission of India that will license all communications and entertainment companies which use wireless, wired or network infrastructure.
The print media is excluded from the ambit of the Commissions. The Commission will not only license and regulate these entities, it will also "formulate and lay down programme and advertising codes" and "take steps to regulate or curtail the harmful and illegal content on the internet and other communications services". In other words, it will regulate not only the physical infrastructure but also the content in the electronic media. Under the provision 23 of the Bill, the government can give the Commission directives from time to time on policy matters, which will be binding on the commission.
The Act also enables the government to tap any communications – email, telephone, cellular, etc., without any judicial procedure. There is also an Appellate body under the proposed Bill -- the Communications Appellate Tribunal -- that will hear appeals against the decisions of the Commission. The decisions of the Tribunal can only be challenged before the Supreme Court and not before a High Court.
The print media is excluded from the ambit of the Commissions. The Commission will not only license and regulate these entities, it will also "formulate and lay down programme and advertising codes" and "take steps to regulate or curtail the harmful and illegal content on the internet and other communications services". In other words, it will regulate not only the physical infrastructure but also the content in the electronic media. Under the provision 23 of the Bill, the government can give the Commission directives from time to time on policy matters, which will be binding on the commission.
The Act also enables the government to tap any communications – email, telephone, cellular, etc., without any judicial procedure. There is also an Appellate body under the proposed Bill -- the Communications Appellate Tribunal -- that will hear appeals against the decisions of the Commission. The decisions of the Tribunal can only be challenged before the Supreme Court and not before a High Court.