Video Conferencing Laws In India

Video conferencing is increasingly being used for the purposes of digital evidencing in India. Video conferencing would also be an important part of e-courts of India once they would be established. Presently, video conferencing is used for many computerised courts in India.

The information technology act 2000 (IT Act 2000) is the cyber law of India that has provided a legal framework for electronic governance, electronic commerce and many other aspects of online dealing. By implications, the IT Act 2000 also allows use of video conferencing for various purposes.

Despite these provisions and active use of video conferencing in India, video conferencing in India is a troubled technology. The recent episode of Rajasthan government and Rajasthan police not allowing the video conferencing of Salman Rushdie shows Indian anxiety with use information technology.

This controversy happened because we have no dedicated video conferencing laws and regulations in India. Obviously, we have no dedicated video conferencing blocking laws in India as well. In the absence of a clear cut law, Indian government is still applying traditional methods to regulate video conferencing in India. However, if at all any law applies to video conferencing in India the same must be the IT Act 2000 and not any Police Act or local law.

Surprisingly, few of our posts pertaining to video conferencing disappeared from Google India’s SERPs and Blogs search results and appeared again only after reporting of the same. It seems controversial posts that are well within the constitutional right to speech and expressions are screened in India once they are posted. But who is doing so is still a big question that must be answered to properly analyse the role of Internet intermediaries in India in this regard.

While Internet intermediaries have declined to pre screen users generated contents yet post screening is happening in many cases. If this post screening is happening due to Internet intermediary law of India then such post screening and removal may be fine if legally and constitutionally done. This is so because if the companies and Internet intermediaries fail to observe cyber law due diligence in India they may face civil and criminal trials in India.

It would be a good idea to clarify the position of use of video conferencing in India by Indian government so that its uses, abuses and regulation can be legally managed.

Video Conferencing Laws And Regulations In India

Use of vide conferencing in business community of India is not new and it is in use for long. Even use of vide conferencing for legal and judicial purposes is not new in India. Courts in India have been using video conferencing for litigation purposes especially for receiving evidence from witness.

Even Indian laws like Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act 2000), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, Indian Evidence Act, 1872, etc allows use of video conferencing for various legal and judicial purposes. The cyber law of India even confers recognition to electronic documents, e-governance and e-commerce.

Use of information technology for legal and judicial purposes is well known. For instance, IT can be use for establishment of e-courts in India. Similarly, IT can also be used for establishing online dispute resolution (ODR) mechanism in India. Even electronic bail granting and communication system in India may be a possibility in near future.

However, use of video conferencing in India is not free from trouble. Recently a man who filed his divorce petition through a video conference from Canada was directed to make a personal appearance in the court. Now personal appearance is a concept that strikes at the very concept of e-courts and video conferencing.

Similarly, the recent cancellation of the Salman Rushdie’s video conferencing in India is another example of troubled use of the same in India. It seems the permission to broadcast such video conferencing was not given by the police.

Crucial speech and expression and law and order maintenance issues are involved in such cases. There is an urgent need to formulate clear and constitutional norms and regulations regarding video conferencing in India.