Section 48. Establishment of Cyber
Appellate Tribunal.
(1)
The Central Government shall, by notification, establish one or more appellate
tribunals
to be known as the Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal.
(2)
The Central Government shall also specify, in the notification referred to in
subsection
(1)
the matters and places in relation to which the Cyber Appellate Tribunal
may
exercise
jurisdiction.
Section 49. Composition of Cyber
Appellate Tribunal.
A Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall consist of one person
only (hereinafter referred to as
the Residing Officer of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal) to
be appointed, by notification, by the
Central Government
Section 50. Qualifications for
appointment as Presiding Officer of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal.
A person shall not be qualified for appointment as the
Presiding Officer of a Cyber
Appellate Tribunal unless he—
(a)
is, or has been. or
is qualified to be, a Judge of a High Court; or
(b)
is or has been a
member of the Indian Legal Service and is holding or has
held
a post in Grade I of that Service for at least three years.
Section 51. Term of office
The Presiding Officer of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal
shall hold office for a term of
five years from the date on which he enters upon his
office or until he attains the age of
sixty-five years, whichever is earlier.
Section 52. Salary, allowances and
other terms and conditions of service of Presiding Officer.
The salary and allowances payable to, and the other
terms and conditions of service
including pension, gratuity and other retirement
benefits of. the Presiding Officer of a
Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall be such as may be
prescribed:
Provided that neither the salary and allowances nor the
other terms and conditions of
service of the Presiding Officer shall be varied to his
disadvantage after appointment.
Section 52A. Powers of
superintendence, direction, etc - Information Technology Act
The Chairperson of he Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall
have powers of general superintendence and directions in the conduct of the
affairs of that Tribunal and he shall, in addition to presiding over the
meetings of the Tribunal,exercise and discharge such powers and functions of
the Tribunal as may be prescribed.
Section 52B . Distribution of Business
among Benches - Information Technology Act
Where Benches are constituted, the Chairperson of the
Cyber Appellate Tribunal may, by order, distribute the business of that
Tribunal amongst the Benches and also the matters to be dealt with by each
Bench.
Section 52C. Powers of the
Chairperson to transfer cases - Information Technology Act
On the application of any of the parties and after
notice to the parties, and after hearing such of them as he may deem proper to
be heard, or suo motu without such notice, the Chairperson of the Cyber
Appellate Tribunal may transfer any case pending before one Bench, for disposal
to any other Bench.
Section 52D. Decision by majority -
Information Technology Act
If the Members of a Bench consisting of two Members
differ in opinion on any point, they shall state the point or points on which
they differ, and make a reference to the Chairperson of the Cyber Appellate
Tribunal who shall hear the point or points himself and such point or points
shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority of the Members who
have heard the case, including those who first heard it.
Section 53. Filling up of vacancies.
If, for reason other than temporary absence, any vacancy
occurs in the office n the
Presiding Officer of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal, then
the Central Government shall
appoint another person in accordance with the provisions
of this Act to fill the vacancy
and the proceedings may be continued before the Cyber
Appellate Tribunal from the stage
at which the vacancy is filled.
Section 54. Resignation and removal.
(1)
The Presiding Officer of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal may, by notice in writing
under his hand addressed to the Central Government, resign his office:
Provided
that the said Presiding Officer shall, unless he is permitted by the Central
Government
to relinquish his office sooner, continue to hold office until the expiry of
three months from the date of receipt of such notice or until a person duly
appointed as his successor enters upon his office or until the expiry of his
term of office, whichever is the earliest.
(2)
The Presiding Officer of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall not be removed from
his office except by an order by the Central Government on the ground of proved
misbehaviour or incapacity after an inquiry made by a Judge of the Supreme
Court in which the Presiding Officer concerned has been informed of the charges
against him and given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of
these charges.
(3)
The Central Government may, by rules, regulate the procedure for the
investigation of misbehaviour or incapacity of the aforesaid Presiding Officer.
Section 55. Orders constituting
Appellate Tribunal to be final and not to invalidate its proceedings.
No order of the Central Government appointing any person
as the Presiding Officer of a
Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall be called in question in
any manner and no act or proceeding before a Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall be
called in question in any manner on the ground merely of any defect in the
constitution of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal.
Section 56. Staff of the Cyber
Appellate Tribunal.
(1)
The Central Government shall provide the Cyber Appellate Tribunal with such
officers
and
employees as that Government may think fit
(2)
The officers and employees of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall discharge
their
functions
under general superintendence of the Presiding Officer.
(3)
The salaries, allowances and other conditions of service of the officers and
employees or'
the
Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall be such as may be prescribed by the Central
Government.
Section 57. Appeal to Cyber Appellate
Tribunal.
(1)
Save as provided in sub-section (2), any person aggrieved by an order made by
Controller
or an adjudicating officer under this Act may prefer an appeal to a Cyber
Appellate
Tribunal having jurisdiction in the matter.
(2)
No appeal shall lie to the Cyber Appellate Tribunal from an order made by an
adjudicating
officer with the consent of the parties.
(3)
Every appeal under sub-section (1) shall be filed within a period of tony-five
days
from the date on which a copy of the order made by the Controller or the
adjudicating officer is received by the person aggrieved and it shall be in
such form and be accompanied by such fee as may be prescribed:
Provided
that the Cyber Appellate Tribunal may entertain an appeal after the expiry
of
the said period of tony-five days if it is satisfied that there was sufficient
cause tor not filing it within that period.
(4)
On receipt of an appeal under sub-section (1), the Cyber Appellate Tribunal
may,
after
giving the parties to the appeal, an opportunity of being heard, pass such
orders
thereon
as it thinks fit, confirming, modifying or setting aside the order appealed
against.
(5)
The Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall send a copy of every order made by it
to" the
parties
to the appeal and to the concerned Controller or adjudicating officer.
(6)
The appeal filed before the Cyber Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (1)
shall
be
dealt with by it as expeditiously as possible and endeavour shall be made by it
to
dispose
of the appeal finally within six months from the date of receipt of the appeal.
Section 58. Procedure and powers of
the Cyber Appellate Tribunal.
(1)
The Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall not be bound by the procedure laid down by
the
Code of civil Procedure, 1908 but shall be guided by the principles of natural
justice
and,
subject to the other provisions of this Act and of any rules, the Cyber
Appellate
Tribunal
shall have powers to regulate its own procedure including the place at which it
shall
have its sittings.
(2)
The Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall have, for the purposes of discharging its
functions
under this Act, the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code
of
Civil
Procedure, 1908, while trying a suit, in respect of the following matters,
namely:—
(a)
summoning and
enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him
on
oath;
(b)
requiring the
discovery and production of documents or other electronic
records;
(c)
receiving evidence
on affidavits;
(d)
issuing commissions
for the examination of witnesses or documents;
(e)
reviewing its
decisions;
(f)
dismissing an
application for default or deciding it ex pane;
(g)
any other matter
which may be prescribed.
(3)
Every proceeding before the Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall be deemed to be a
judicial proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 228, and for the
purposes of section 196 of the Indian Penal Code and the Cyber Appellate
Tribunal shall be deemed to be a civil court for the purposes of section 195
and Chapter XXVI of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
Section 59. Right to legal
representation.
The appellant may either appear in person or authorise
one or more legal practitioners or any of its officers to present his or its
case before the Cyber Appellate Tribunal.
Section 60. Limitation.
The provisions of the Limitation Act, 1963, shall, as
far as may be, apply to an appeal made
to the Cyber Appellate Tribunal.
Section 61. Civil court not to have
jurisdiction.
No court shall have jurisdiction to entertain any suit
or proceeding in respect of any
matter which an adjudicating officer appointed under
this Act or the Cyber Appellate
Tribunal constituted under this Act is empowered by or
under this Act to determine and no
injunction shall be granted by any court or other
authority in respect of any action taken or
to be taken in pursuance of any power conferred by or
under this Act.
Section 62. Appeal to High Court.
Any person aggrieved by any decision or order of the
Cyber Appellate Tribunal may
file an appeal to the High Court within sixty days from
the date of communication of the
decision or order of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal to him
on any question of fact or law
arising out of such order Provided that the High Court
may, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause
from filing the appeal within the said period, allow it to be filed within a
further period not exceeding sixty days.
Section 63. Compounding of
contraventions.
(1)
Any contravention under this Chapter may, either before or after the
institution of
adjudication
proceedings, be compounded by the Controller or such other officer as may be specially
authorised by him in this behalf or by the adjudicating officer, as the case
may be, subject to such conditions as the Controller or such other officer or
the adjudicating officer may specify:
Provided
that such sum shall not, in any case, exceed the maximum amount of the penalty which
may be imposed under this Act for the contravention so compounded.
(2)
Nothing in sub-section (1) shall apply to a person who commits the same or
similar
contravention
within a period of three years from the date on which the first contravention, committed
by him, was compounded.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section,
any second or subsequent
contravention
committed after the expiry of a period of three years from the date on which the
contravention was previously compounded shall be deemed to be a first
contravention.
(3)
Where any contravention has been compounded under sub-section (1), no
proceeding or further proceeding, as the case may be, shall be taken against
the person guilty of such contravention in respect of the contravention so
compounded.
Section 64. Recovery of penalty
A penalty imposed under this Act, if it is not paid,
shall be recovered as an arrear of
land revenue and the licence or the Digital Signature
Certificate, as the case may be, shall
be suspended till the penalty is paid.
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