Information
Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by
Public) Rules, 2009
[Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for
Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009][1]
[27th October, 2009]
In exercise of the powers
conferred by clause (z) of
sub-section (2) of Section 87, read with sub-section (2) of Section 69-A of the
Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000), the Central Government hereby
makes the following rules, namely:
Rule - 1. Short title and commencement.
(1) These rules may be called
the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of
Information by Public) Rules, 2009.
(2) They shall come into force
on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
Rule - 2. Definitions.
In these rules, unless the
context otherwise requires,
(a) “Act” means the Information
Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000);
(b) “computer resource” means
computer resource as defined in clause (k)
of sub-section (1) of Section 2 of the Act;
(c) “designated officer” means
an officer designated as Designated Officer under Rule 3;
(d) “Form” means a form
appended to these rules;
(e) “intermediary” means an
intermediary as defined in clause (w)
of sub-section (1) of Section 2 of the Act;
(f) “nodal officer” means the
nodal officer designated as such under Rule 4;
(g) “organisation” means.
(i) Ministries or Departments
of the Government of India;
(ii) State Governments and Union
Territories;
(iii) any agency of the Central
Government, as may be notified in the Official Gazette, by the Central
Government;
(h) “request” means the request
for blocking of assess by the public any information generated, transmitted,
received, stored or hosted in any computer resource;
(i) “review committee” means
the Review Committee constituted under Rule 419-A of Indian Telegraph Rules,
1951.
Rule - 3. Designated Officer.
The Central Government
shall designate by notification[2] in
Official Gazette, an officer of the Central Government not below the rank of a
Joint Secretary, as the “Designated Officer”, for the purpose of issuing
direction for blocking for access by the public any information generated,
transmitted, received, stored or hosted in any computer resource under
sub-section (2) of Section 69-A of the Act.
Rule - 4. Nodal officer of organisation.
Every organisation for the
purpose of these rules, shall designate one of its officer as the Nodal Officer
and shall intimate the same to the Central Government in the Department of
Information Technology under the Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology, Government of India and also publish the name of the said Nodal
Officer on their website.
Rule - 5. Direction by Designated Officer.
The Designated Officer may,
on receipt of any request from the Nodal Officer of an organisation or a competent
court, by order direct any Agency of the Government or intermediary to block
for access by the public any information or part thereof generated,
transmitted, received, stored or hosted in any computer resource for any of the
reasons specified in sub-section (1) of Section 69-A of the Act.
Rule - 6. Forwarding of request by organisation.
(1) Any person may send their
complaint to the Nodal Officer of the concerned organisation for blocking of
access by the public any information generated, transmitted, received, stored
or hosted in any computer resource:
Provided that any request,
other than the one from the Nodal Officer of the organisation, shall be sent
with the approval of the Chief Secretary of the concerned State or Union
territory to the Designated Officer:
Provided further that in
case a Union territory has no Chief Secretary, then, such request may be
approved by the Adviser to the Administrator of that Union territory.
(2) The organisation shall
examine the complaint received under sub-rule (1) to satisfy themselves about
the need for taking of action in relation to the reasons enumerated in
sub-section (1) of Section 69-A of the Act and after being satisfied, it shall
send the request through its Nodal Officer to the Designated Officer in the format
specified in the Form appended to these rules.
(3) The Designated Officer
shall not entertain any complaint or request for blocking of information
directly from any person.
(4) The request shall be in
writing on the letter head of the respective organisation, complete in all
respects and may be sent either by mail or by fax or by e-mail signed with
electronic signature of the Nodal Officer:
Provided that in case the
request in sent by fax or by e-mail which is not signed with electronic
signature, the Nodal Officer shall provide a signed copy of the request so as
to reach the Designated Officer within a period of three days of receipt of the
request by such fax or e-mail.
(5) On receipt, each request
shall be assigned a number along with the date and time of its receipt by the
Designated Officer and he shall acknowledge the receipt thereof to the Nodal
Officer within a period of twenty-four hours of its receipt.
Rule - 7. Committee for examination of request.
The request along with the
printed sample content of the alleged offending information or part thereof
shall be examined by a committee consisting of the Designated Officer as its
chairperson and representatives, not below the rank of Joint Secretary in
Ministries of Law and Justice, Home Affairs, Information and Broadcasting and
the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team appointed under sub-section (1) of
Section 70-B of the Act.
Rule - 8. Examination of request.
(1) On receipt of request under
Rule 6, the Designated Officer shall make all reasonable efforts to identify
the person or intermediary who has hosted the information or part thereof as
well as the computer resource on which such information or pert thereof is
being hosted and where he is able to identify such person or intermediary and
the computer resource hosting the information or part thereof which have been
requested to be blocked for public access, he shall issue a notice by way of
letters or fax or e-mail signed with electronic signatures to such person or
intermediary in control of such computer resource to appear and submit their
reply and clarifications, if any, before the committee referred to in Rule 7,
at a specified date and time, which shall not be less than forty-eight hours
from the time of receipt of such notice by such person or intermediary.
(2) In case of non-appearance
of such person or intermediary, who has been served with the notice under
sub-rule (1), before the committee on such specified date and time, the
committee shall give specific recommendation in writing with respect to the
request received from the Nodal Officer, based on the information available
with the committee.
(3) In case, such a person or
intermediary, who has been served with the notice under sub-rule (1), is a
foreign entity or body corporate as identified by the Designated Officer,
notice shall be sent by way of letters of fax or e-mail signed with electronic
signatures to such foreign entity or body corporate and any such foreign entity
or body corporate shall respond to such a notice within the time specified
therein, failing which the committee shall give specific recommendation in
writing with respect to the request received from the Nodal Officer, based on
the information available with the committee.
(4) The committee referred to
in Rule 7 shall examine the request and printed sample information and consider
whether the request is covered within the scope of sub-section (1) of Section
69-A of the Act and that it is justifiable to block such information or part
thereof and shall give specific recommendation in writing with respect to the
request received from the Nodal Officer.
(5) The Designated Officer
shall submit the recommendation of the committee, in respect of the request for
blocking of information along with the details sent by the Nodal Officer, to
the Secretary in the Department of Information Technology under the Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology, Government of India (Hereinafter
referred to as the “Secretary, Department of Information Technology”).
(6) The Designated Officer, on
approval of the request by the Secretary, Department of Information Technology,
shall direct any agency of the Government or the intermediary to block the
offending information generated, transmitted, received, stored or hosted in
their computer resource for public access within the time limit specified in
the direction:
Provided that in case the
request of the Nodal Officer is not approved by the Secretary, Department of
Information Technology, the Designated Officer shall convey the same to such
Nodal Officer.
Rule - 9. Blocking of Information in cases of emergency.
(1) Notwithstanding anything
contained in Rules 7 and 8, the Designated Officer, in any case of emergency
nature, for which no delay is acceptable, shall examine the request and printed
sample information and consider whether the request is within the scope of
sub-section (1) of Section 69-A of the Act and it is necessary or expedient and
justifiable to block such information or part thereof and submit the request
with specific recommendations in writing to Secretary, Department of
Information Technology.
(2) In a case of emergency
nature, the Secretary, Department of Information Technology may, if he is
satisfied that it is necessary or expedient and justifiable for blocking for
public access of any information or part thereof through any computer resource
and after recording reasons in writing, as an interim measure issue such
directions as he may consider necessary to such identified or identifiable
persons or intermediary in control of such computer resource hosting such
information or part thereof without giving him an opportunity of hearing.
(3) The Designated Officer, at
the earliest but not later than forty-eight hours of issue of direction under
sub-rule (2), shall bring the request before the committee referred to in Rule
7 for its consideration and recommendation.
(4) On receipt of
recommendations of Committee, Secretary, Department of Information Technology,
shall pass the final order as regard to approval of such request and in case
the request for blocking is not approved by the Secretary, Department of
Information Technology in his final order, the interim direction issued under
sub-rule (2) shall be revoked and the person or intermediary in control of such
information shall be accordingly directed to unblock the information for public
access.
Rule - 10. Process of order of court for blocking of information.
In case of an order from a
competent court in India for blocking of any information or part thereof
generated, transmitted, received, stored or hosted in a computer resource, the
Designated Officer shall, immediately on receipt of certified copy of the court
order, submit it to the Secretary, Department of Information Technology and
initiate action as directed by the court.
Rule - 11. Expeditious disposal of request.
The request received from
the Nodal Officer shall be decided expeditiously which in no case shall be more
than seven working days from the date of receipt of the request.
Rule - 12. Action for non-compliance of direction by intermediary.
In case the intermediary
fails to comply with the direction issued to him under Rule 9, the Designated
Officer shall, with the prior approval of the Secretary, Department of
Information Technology, initiate appropriate action as may be required to
comply with the provisions of sub-section (3) of Section 69-A of the Act.
Rule - 13. Intermediary to designate one person to receive and handle directions.
(1) Every intermediary shall
designate at least one person to receive and handle the directions for blocking
of access by the public any information generated, transmitted, received,
stored or hosted in any computer resource under these rules.
(2) The designated person of
the intermediary shall acknowledge receipt of the directions to the Designated
Officer within two hours on receipt of the direction through acknowledgement
letter or fax or e-mail signed with electronic signature.
Rule - 14. Meeting of Review Committee.
The Review Committee shall
meet at least once in two months and record its findings whether the directions
issued under these rules are in accordance with the provisions of sub-section
(1) of Section 69-A of the Act and if is of the opinion that the directions are
not in accordance with the provisions referred to above, it may set aside the
directions and issue order for unblocking of said information generated,
transmitted, received, stored or hosted in a computer resource for public
access.
Rule - 15. Maintenance of records by Designated Officer.
The Designated Officer
shall maintain complete record of the request received and action taken
thereof, in electronic database and also in register of the cases of blocking
for public access of the information generated, transmitted, received, stored
or hosted in a computer resource.
Rule - 16. Requests and complaints to be confidential.
Strict confidentiality
shall be maintained regarding all the requests and complaints received and
actions taken thereof.
Form
[See Rule 6(2)]
A.
Complaint
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1. Name of the complainant:— (Person who has sent the complaint to
the Ministry/Department/State Govt./Nodal Officer) |
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2. Address: |
______________________________________ |
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______________________________________ |
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City: ___________________________________ Pin
Code: ___________________________ |
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3. Telephone: _______________ (Prefix
STD Code) 4. Fax (If any): ________________________ |
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5. Mobile (If any): |
______________________________________ |
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6. E-mail (If any): |
______________________________________ |
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B.
Details of website/computer resource/intermediary/offending
information hosted on the website
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(Please give details wherever known) |
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7. URL/WEB address: |
______________________________________ |
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8. IP Address: |
______________________________________ |
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9. Hyperlink: |
______________________________________ |
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10. Server/Proxy Server Address: |
______________________________________ |
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11. Name of the Intermediary: |
______________________________________ |
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12. URL of the Intermediary: |
______________________________________ |
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(Please attach screenshot/printout of
the offending information) |
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13.
Address or location of intermediary in
case the intermediary is telecom service provider, network service provider,
internet service provider, web-hosting service provider and cyber café or other
form of intermediary for which information under points (7), (8), (9), (10),
(11) and (12) are not available.
C.
Details of Request for blocking
14.
Recommendation/Comments of the
Ministry/State Govt:___________________
____________________________________________________________
15.
The level at which the
comments/recommendation have been approved
(Please specify
designation) :_______________________________________
16.
Have the complaint been examined in Ministry/State Government : Y/N
17.
If yes, under which of the following reasons if falls (Please tick):
(i) Interest of sovereignty or
integrity of India
(ii) Defence of India
(iii) Security of the State
(iv) Friendly relations with
foreign States
(v) Public order
(vi) For preventing incitement
to the commission of any cognisable offence relating to above
D.
Details of the Nodal Officer forwarding the complaint along with
recommendation of the Ministry/State Govt. and related enclosures
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18. Name of the Nodal Officer: |
_________________________________________ |
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19. Designation: |
_________________________________________ |
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20. Organisation: |
_________________________________________ |
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21. Address: |
_________________________________________ |
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_________________________________________ |
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City :___________________________ |
Pin Code :_______________ |
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22. Telephone : ____________ (Prefix
STD Code) 23. Fax (If any) :________________ |
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23. Mobile (If any): |
_________________________________________ |
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24. E-mail (If any): |
_________________________________________ |
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E. Any other information: |
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F. Enclosures: |
1. |
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2. |
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3. |
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Date: |
Place: |
Signature |
[1]
Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (Deptt. of Information
Technology), Noti. No. G.S.R. 781(E), dated October 27, 2009, published in the
Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 3(i), dated 27th October, 2009, pp.
29-33, No. 618
[2]
See Noti. No. S.O. 117(E), dated 20-1-2010 on page 49.