Pranab Mukherjee Allotted Rs.55, 469 Crore To Home Ministry

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the Union Budget for the Financial Year 2011-12 in Parliament on Monday. He also sanctioned around Rs 55,469 crore to the Central Home Ministry for security and law enforcement purposes.

He also proposed Rs.384 crore for the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) project and Rs.909.92 crore for the Intelligence Bureau. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been allotted Rs.55.68 crore for its functioning.

Finance Minister also proposed to earmark Rs.125 crore for Immigration, Visa and Foreigners Registration and Tracking (IVFRT). This project intends to develop a secure and integrated service delivery framework that facilitates legitimate travellers without compromising on national security.

Similarly, a sum of Rs.39.75 crore has been sanctioned for the National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid). Natgrid is a project that would provide real time information sharing among various intelligence agencies.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram was happy and contended with the budget allocation to his Ministry. He analysed the budget as a whole as a “balance one”. According to Chidambaram, Finance Minister has focused on high growth through investment augmentation and by providing for larger financial resources to education, health and security.

Now the financial resources are at place and Home Ministry is required to implement its ambitious projects one by one and in a timely manner. The only factor that Chidambaram must keep in mind is that “constitutional issues” are resolved in an appropriate and timely manner.

Projects like Natgrid, CCTNS, National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Central Monitoring System (CMS), etc must be implemented in a constitutionally sound manner.

Indian Government in general and Home Ministry in particular must maintain a delicate and constitutional balance between National Security and Constitutional Rights. Giving priority of one over other would be counter productive and would be against National Interest.

I hope the year 2011 would be a good year for National Security of India and Chidambaram would successfully implement various National Security Projects of India.

E-Courts Infrastructure Of India Needs Rejuvenation

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the Union Budget for the Financial Year 2011-12 in Parliament on Monday. He also sanctioned around Rs 1000 Crore to judiciary for establishment of e-courts.

This is welcome step as Indian judiciary, especially subordinate judiciary, is suffering severely from lack of physical infrastructure in general and e-courts infrastructure in particular. The judicial e-infrastructure of India needs urgent reforms and overhaul.

Establishment of e-courts in India was originally conceived in 2003. However, we do not have a single e-court in India till the month of February 2011. Of course, some productive and effective computerisation initiatives have been undertaken by Indian judiciary. However, these initiatives are far from satisfactory and definitely not enough for the successful establishment of e-courts all over India.

Now the judiciary has enough financial resources, so there would be no money crunch as well. But would India get its first e-court in the year 2011? This is a big question that cannot be answered easily.

If we keep in mind the past performance and the year 2003 as the beginning, this seems to be a too ambitious claim. This is so for at least two reasons.

Firstly, we do have a legal enablement of ICT systems in India. Till a legal framework conducive for techno legal development of Indian judiciary is not established, legal and judicial systems of India have little incentives to adopt technology.

Secondly, the techno legal expertise needed for the sufficient completion of e-courts project of India is missing. India has a single techno legal e-courts research, training and consultancy centre that is managed by Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB).

India needs more such techno legal e-courts centers so that e-court project of India may be successful. Till now the e-court centre of PTLB is not extending its expertise to the e-courts project of India. This may be one of the reasons why establishment of e-courts in India failed to materialise.

Law Minister Veerappa Moily must urgently take some effective steps so that there is a good team of techno legal experts who can successfully implement the e-court project. The present institutional framework adopted by the Supreme Court of India lacks this expertise and the e-courts committee must actively seek services of techno legal experts in general and institutions like PTLB in particular.

National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) Of India

Intelligence agencies of India such as Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Aviation Research Centre (ARC), Intelligence Bureau (IB), National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) and Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), etc are working separately and independently in India.

There is no coordination and collaboration between these agencies and at times of crisis this becomes fatal as well. There is no centralised mechanism that can govern and assist in effective and instant collaboration and coordination between these agencies.

In this background, establishment of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) was proposed by the Home Minister P. Chidambaram. According to the proposal, the NCTC would function as an umbrella outfit under the Home Ministry with representation from all security and intelligence agencies, including those working directly under the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the Defence Ministry and the Finance Ministry.

Projects like national intelligence grid (Natgrid), crime and criminal tracking and systems (CCTNS), central monitoring system (CMS), Aadhar project/UID project, etc were also launched to strengthen NCTC. The purpose was to have real time intelligence information sharing among law enforcement and various security agencies.

Neither NCTC nor projects like Natgrid, CCTNS, CMS and Aadhar would be successful if the various intelligence agencies keep on guarding their own turf. The whole purpose of “collective intelligence” would fail if these agencies keep on operating independently.

Further, there is an urgent need to bring these intelligence agencies under Parliament scrutiny and accountability. Presently there is no Parliamentary oversight of these intelligence agencies.

Open Letter To Government On National Security Projects In India

In this “Open Letter”, Praveen Dalal, Managing Partner of Perry4Law and leading techno legal expert of India, has discussed the importance of maintaining a balance between national security and civil liberties in India. He has also offered his techno legal expertise and a copy of his latest book on cyber forensics to government of India.

National Security, Civil Liberties and Constitutional Aspirations are on “Cross Roads” these days. Projects like Aadhar/UID, National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), Crime and Criminal Tracking and Systems (CCTNS), Central Monitoring System (CMS), etc are required for National Security but Civil Liberties and Fundamental Rights are also of Prime Importance.

Enacting suitable Techno Legal Laws and Regulations in fields like Cyber Law, Cyber Security, Cyber Forensics, etc is of Paramount Importance. However, these fields are emerging World over and India need to streamline its Techno Legal Jurisprudence.

We have been in the process of “Compiling” and “Formulating” a Techno Legal Framework for India. To start with, we have already written on the topic of Cyber Forensics and Compiled it in the form of a Book.

The First Edition of the Book has been written in September 2010 and we are working towards not only “Improving and Upgrading” the same but also coming up with the Second Edition of the same very soon. The Book carries possible useful information in the field of Cyber Forensics in India and includes International Best Practices in this field.

We are also working in the direction of Compiling Techno Legal Literature in the Fields like Cyber Law, Cyber Security, Cyber Terrorism, Cyber Espionage, Cyber Warfare, etc. We have been trying to “Reconcile” National Security with Fundamental Rights of Indian so that Projects like Aadhar/UID, NATGRID, CCTNS, CMS, can be effectively and “Constitutionally” launched in India.

We look forward for your Active and Constructive Cooperation and Support in this regard. We would be glad to provide you with a “Copy” of our Book on Cyber Forensics somewhere in the month of June/July 2011.

If interested, kindly send us a request in this regard on the official Letterhead of your concerned Ministry/Department.

We look forward for a Cooperative and Collaborative Alliance and Public Private Partnership (PPP) in this regard.

Digital Preservation In India Is Needed

Digital preservation is an important issue when it comes to preserving national heritage and other historic and current documents, manuscripts, heritage, etc. This is the reason why developed countries have a well established framework for digital preservation.

Digital preservation in India has yet to take a start. Although some discussions in this regard have been undertaken by some department of India government yet they are far from satisfactory.

Even a national digital preservation programme (NDPP) of India has been launched but it has been lying dormant for many years. Presently, India has no well defined legal framework for digital preservation in India. Neither the technical nor the legal issues have been resolved by India in this regard so far.

According to Praveen Dalal, a Supreme Court lawyer and leading techno legal expert of India, Digital Preservation Framework in India is missing as we do not have a “dedicated” techno legal Digital Preservation Law in India.

Further, laws like Public Records Act, 1993, Right to Information Act, 2005, proposed Electronic Delivery of Services Bill 2011 (Bill), etc also mandates Digital Preservation and Digitilisation of records in “Electronic Form”, informs Praveen Dalal.

Digital preservation issues in India are going to be more complicated with the enactment of laws like digital millennium copyright act (DMCA). Efforts are in the pipeline for adoption of an efficient digital rights management (DRM) system in India.

It would be a better strategy if the Indian government starts working in the direction of enacting a suitable techno legal framework for digital preservation in Indian as soon as possible.

Internet Banking Laws In India

Internet banking is increasingly becoming popular in India. However, Internet banking is a risky venture and India must be prepared to deal with the risks associated with it. The increasing cases of ATM frauds, online banking frauds, credit cards frauds, etc have shaken the confidence of Indian consumers in Internet banking in India.

Similarly, mobile banking in India is also being explored. Some segments have suggested active use of mobile banking in India. While the idea is great yet India is still not ready for mobile banking. In fact, mobile banking in India is a risky business.

The problem of Internet banking frauds has become even more sever due to absence of legal framework in this regard. However, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently recommended use of “cyber due diligence” for banks in India. With the present guidelines, banks can no more ignore due diligence requirements that they have been ignoring for long.

Although the requirements of due diligence may arise out of many laws, but cyber due diligence is the most required one. Realising the seriousness of the situation, RBI has recently released a report of its working group on information security, electronic banking, technology risk management, and cyber frauds.

Previously, banks were required to manage due diligence arising out of laws alone but now the responsibility of banks have become very wide. The banks must now manage due diligence requirements of both technical and legal nature. In other words, the due diligence requirements of banks have now become techno legal in nature.

However, Internet banking in India cannot succeed till a strong legal framework in this is enacted. According to Praveen Dalal, leading techno legal expert of India and a Supreme Court lawyer, we have no dedicated Internet Banking Law in India. Although, RBI has issued many guidelines in this regard and even our Information Technology Act, 2000 contains some indirect and implied provisions for Internet Banking yet we need a separate and dedicated law in this regard, opines Praveen Dalal.

It would be a good idea if RBI starts working in the direction of enacting a suitable Internet banking law of India. The same may also incorporate cyber due diligence requirements and punishments for cyber crimes against banking institutions. The call is for the RBI to take and it would definitely take it.

E-Courts In India Still A Dream

Indian courts are suffering from many drawbacks. These include lack of infrastructure, inadequate strength of judges to handle growing cases, increasing backlog of cases, inadequate use of information and communication technology (ICT) for judicial purposes in India, etc.

Some very good computerisation initiatives were undertaken by Indian government and Supreme Court of India in the past. However, none of them are even closer to the establishment of e-courts in India. Naturally, we are still waiting for the establishment of first e-court of India.

On the other hand, it is clear that will of selective few individuals can also bring much needed legal and judicial reforms in India. For instance, a division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna has ensured early release of undertrials and accused who are granted bail by directing all Delhi courts as well as its own officials to e-mail a copy of bail orders to Tihar jail authorities within 24 hours of being pronounced. This is how legal and judicial reforms are undertaken.

The major obstacle before the successful completion of e-courts project of India is that the project is just an “institutional effort” on behalf of Supreme Court of India. For some strange reasons expertise of techno legal institutions and experts has still not been requested by the e-court project of India.

At the institutional level, e-court project is bound to fails as there is no techno legal expertise present there. This is the reason why despite the national e-governance plan (NEGP) of India being launched, it has largely remained a failure to bring legal enablement of ICT systems in India.

India has a single techno legal e-courts research, training and consultancy centre that is managed by exclusive techno legal firm of India Perry4Law. The e-court centre is managed by the premier techno legal segment of Perry4Law known as Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB).

India needs more such techno legal e-courts centers so that e-court project of India may be successful. Till now the e-court centre of PTLB is not extending its expertise to the e-courts project of India.

Hopefully, Ministry of Law and Justice would consider taking techno legal services of PTLB and similar institutions so that e-courts may see the light of the day.