Finally cyber appellate tribunal (CAT) of India got a website of its own. CAT is a very important tribunal that has not received enough attention of the stakeholders. This is evident from the number of cases referred to and decided by CAT so far.CAT has been established under the information technology act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000) that is the sole cyber law of India. It is working under the aegis of Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA).
There is a general lack of awareness about cyber law relates issues in India. People are not much aware of cyber law related issues and they seldom approach courts and tribunals for resolving their disputes.
Indian Government must pay more attention to CAT that has a very important role to perform, says Praveen Dalal, a Supreme Court Lawyer and leading Techno Legal and Cyber Law Expert of India. CAT is managing the “Apex Adjudicatory Function” under the IT Act, 2000 yet not much people and organisations are aware about it, says Dalal.
Even the lawyers and courts are not well versed with cyber law related cases. There are very few cases registered in India regarding cyber crimes despite a sharp rise of cyber crimes in India. Even lesser are conviction for cyber crimes in India.
With the launch of website, much information about CAT, its functions and powers, procedures, decisions, etc is available online. This is a good step in right direction and may be beginning of “Adjudicatory Regime” in India, says Dalal.
