One day national seminar on enforcement of cyber laws was concluded in New Delhi on Saturday.

The Chief Justice of India , K.G. Balakrishnan inaugurated the seminar which was organized with the objective to train and sensitize all stakeholders including adjudicating officers of the states, investigating officers, prosecuters and victims of cyber abuse.

Emphasizing the need for greater awareness, the Chief Justice said that it is the responsibility of the Judicial System to keep pace with the changing technologies and times. He hoped that the system will adapt itself to ensure the freedom of expression and speech, freedom to pursue occupation or vocation of one’s own choice. The technological advancements leading to transaction of business in the virtual and cyber world should not put any of the parties involved in the transaction to any legal disadvantage for absence of proper appreciation of cyber laws, he added.

In his keynotes address, Justice Altamas Kabir underlined the need for understanding the cyber laws and challenges faced in collecting the evidence that is electronic and digital in nature. He mentioned that IT Act 2000 as amended in 2008 is the singular law in the country dealing with all aspects of crimes related to computer usage which include identity theft, blackmail through e-mail, viewing and uploading obscene contents etc. In this context he mentioned that the cyber crime needs to be understood from the stage of commission including tools for investigation, collection of evidence and the penal consequences.

Speaking on the occasion, the Secretary of the Department of Information Technology, R. Chandrasekhar said that the ever-changing technology-driven cyberspace poses novel and complex problems for law, which defy many traditional legal concepts, like liability, burden of proof, ownership, property, personality, geographical boundaries. On the complexity of the problem, the Secretary said the internet spans and ever blurs geographical and jurisdictional boundaries but users remain in physical jurisdictions and are subject to laws independent of their presence on the internet. He said a single transaction may involve the laws of at least three jurisdictions - the laws of the state/nation in which the user resides; the laws of the state/nation that apply where the server hosting the transaction is located, and the laws of the state/nation which apply to the person or business with whom the transaction takes place.

The first Indian legislative response to address the cyberspace abuse, the Information Technology Act, 2000 was amended in 2008 due to ever changing technology and enforced on 27th October 2009. The amendment has made the Act technology-neutral. This Act is a self-enabling comprehensive law which provides the mechanism for dealing with cyberspace issues. However, understanding implementation and enforcement mechanism of the provisions of the Act is the need of the hour. It is of utmost importance in the interest of the country, society and providing safe and secure cyberspace to our citizens.

Earlier welcoming the delegates Chairperson of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal Justice Shri Rajesh Tandon referred to the background of enactment of IT Act 2000. In the light of UN Resolution in 1996 on cyber issues, the quick Indian response to the global concern and the consensus that emerged in comity of nations was highlighted by Justice Tandon.