Privacy and democratic rights annihilated
Dr Santosh Kumar Mohapatra
Tobe revised
Unceremoniously and undemocratically 146 MPs ( around 100 from Rajya Sabha and 46 from Lok Sabha) was suspended from Lok Sabha which is tantamount to decimation of our parliamentary democracy. In absence of a proper debate, a half dozens of bills have been passed. Among those bills, the Telecommunications Bill, 2023 and the Post Office Bill, 2023 will kill the privacy of people and thereby endangering freedom of expression.

In India, there is no lack of laws to ensure proper governance. There is plethora of laws. But those fail to curb corruption, black money, crimes and illegal activities. The reason is that law used only against poorer section of society and common people while law never catches rich, powerful. The rich and powerful violate all rule and regulations with impunity. So, no change in laws will bring any qualitative changes in society, or improvement in law and orders, rather may be misused by ruling class to curb dissents, harass critics and disarm oppositions .
The Telecommunications Bill, 2023 was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on December 18, 2023 and was passed by Rajya Sabha on December 21,2023.The Bill replaces the Indian Telegraph Act (1885), the Wireless Telegraphy Act (1933), and the Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act (1950), which the government sees as colonial-era archaic laws that need reforms, given that the telecom sector has changed significantly in the last few years.
The Telecommunications Bill, 2023 amends and consolidates the laws relating to “development, expansion and operation of telecommunication services and telecommunication networks; assignment of spectrum; and for matters connected therewith”.

The proposed law attempts to bring in a slew of structural changes to current regulatory mechanisms in the sector, ranging from simplification of the licensing regime, clarity on spectrum assignment, and a stringent requirement of user verification, among other things.

The final draft of the Indian Telecommunications Bill 2023 preserves the powers of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, drops over-the-top services from the ambit of telecom services, and provides for an administrative method for the allocation of satellite spectrum.

According to its statement of objectives and reasons, “Telecommunication sector is a key driver of economic and social development. It is the gateway to digital services. Security of our country is vitally dependent on safety of telecommunication networks. Therefore, there is a need to create a legal and regulatory framework that focuses on safe and secure telecommunication network that provides for digitally inclusive growth.”

But the real danger is posed to freedom of expression and protection of privacy of citizens. The Bill allows the government to take over telecom services and intercept messages in the name of interests of national security and in case of emergencies.
The Bill says: “On the occurrence of any public emergency, including disaster management, or in the interest of public safety, the Central Government or a State Government or any officer specially authorised in this behalf by the Central Government or a State Government, if satisfied that it is necessary or expedient so to do, by notification— (a) take temporary possession of any telecommunication service or telecommunication network from an authorised entity; or (b) provide for appropriate mechanism to ensure that messages of a user or group of users authorised for response and recovery during public emergency are routed on priority.”This may be misutiled or used selectively.

Under the new Bill, the government can also ask telecommunication services to transmit specific messages. “If it appears necessary or expedient so to do in the public interest, the Central Government may direct any authorised entity to transmit in its telecommunication services or telecommunication network, specific messages, in such manner as may be specified,” the Bill says.

It further says that “on the occurrence of any public emergency or in the interest of public safety”, the central or state government, “in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence and security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, or for preventing incitement to the commission of any offence”, direct that messages “transmitted or received by any telecommunication service or telecommunication network, shall not be transmitted, or shall be intercepted or detained, or shall be disclosed in intelligible format to the officer mentioned in such order”.
However, more than 60 digital rights organisations including those that back popular tech platforms like Signal and the Firefox browser have written to Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, urging him to withdraw the telecom Bill. According to them “The Bill in its current form poses a grave threat to fundamental rights, democracy, and the and must be withdrawn and altered in order to remove these flaws.
“The Bill imperils encryption, a crucial tool for privacy and free expression; amplifies unchecked powers of the government to impose internet shutdowns; and enhances surveillance without independent oversight,” they said in the letter. They said that in empowering the government to notify standards and conformity assessment measures on “encryption and data processing in telecommunication” without any limitations, the Bill creates “uncertainties around the ability of service providers to offer strong encryption, and develop privacy-respecting innovations”.

After being passed in the Rajya Sabha on December 4, the Post Office Bill, 2023, was passed in the Lok Sabha on December 13, 2023 after a brief discussion amid protests by opposition members demanding a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the security breach in Parliament The Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha during monsoon session ..

Seeking to repeal the 125-year-old Indian Post Office Act of 1898, the Bill contains provisions that allow the Centre to intercept, open, or detain any item, and deliver it to customs authorities. According to the government, the legislation is an attempt to ensure the effective functioning of the Postal Department as a messenger service and as a provider of banking facilities.

It is argued that the Bill aims to “consolidate and amend the law relating to Post Office in India,” which today provides many services beyond simply mail delivery, the primary concern of the Indian Post Office Act of 1898. The Post Office network today has become a vehicle for delivery of different citizen-centric services, which necessitated the repeal enactment of a new law, the Bill states.
It is a matter of serious concerns that the provision in the Bill that allows the Centre to intercept, open, or detain any postal item lacks safeguards and is cantered around an “ambiguous definition”. The Bill also violates the right to privacy and encouraging state surveillance.
The danger to privacy of individual is that Section 9 of the Bill allows the Centre to, by notification, empower any officer to “intercept, open or detain any item” in the interest of state security, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, emergency, public safety, or contravention of other laws. This provision also allows post officers to hand over postal items to customs authorities if they are suspected to contain any prohibited item, or if such items are liable to duty.