Comments
on the Draft EDS Bill-2011
(This
is the second article of a series of articles on the Bill)
First article can be found
here
Jurisdiction:
Under section 20 of EDSB-2011, the
provisions of this act will have overriding effect against other laws.
This means that provisions of this act will prevail both over legacy
laws of Governance and also ITA 2008.
However under Section 1(2) the Act
will extend to the whole of India (note the exclusion of including Jammu
and Kashmir found in ITA 2000) and for contravention or offence
committed outside India.
By not mentioning Jammu and
Kashmir, the act is a dilution of the sovereignty of India over Jammu
and Kashmir which ITA 2008 had circumvented. Also since Jammu and
Kashmir cannot be considered as being "Outside India", it becomes an
island where neither the act is applicable nor any contraventions become
accountable.
Applicability:
Under Section 2(g) "Electronic
Delivery of Services" means the delivery of public services in the form
of receipt of forms and applications, issue or grant of any license,
permit, certificate, sanction or approval and the receipt or payment of
money by electronic means by following the procedure
specified hereunder;
However the definitions have
omitted to define what "Electronic Means" imply. There is a definition
of "access", "Communication device", "Computer resource" imported
from ITA 2008 but a general clause to say "Where required meaning of
terms will be same as used in ITA 2008" would have been in order.
(To Be continued)
Naavi
7th March 2011
Comments are Welcome at naavi@vsnl.com
