Section 19 of ITA, 2000 : Section 19: Recognition Of Foreign Certifying Authorities

Bare Act

(1) Subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be specified by regulations, the Controller may with the previous approval of the Central Government, and by notification in the Official Gazette, recognise any foreign Certifying Authority as a Certifying Authority for the purposes of this Act.

(2) Where any Certifying Authority is recognised under sub-section (1), the electronic signature Certificate issued by such Certifying Authority shall be valid for the purposes of this Act.

(3) The Controller may, if he is satisfied that any Certifying Authority has contravened any of the conditions and restrictions subject to which it was granted recognition under sub-section (1), he may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, by notification in the Official Gazette, revoke such recognition.

Simplified Act

(1) The Controller, who is in charge of electronic signatures, can recognize foreign organizations that issue these signatures. This can only be done with the Indian government's approval and must be officially announced.

(2) Once a foreign organization is recognized, the electronic signatures they issue are legall...

Explanation using Example

Let's consider a hypothetical scenario to demonstrate the application of Section 19 of The Information Technology Act, 2000. Imagine a foreign company, "SecureSign", which is a Certifying Authority that issues electronic signature certificates in its home country. Now, SecureSign wants to expand its services to India.

As per sub-section (1) of Section 19, the Controller in India, after obtaining the approval of the Central Government and following due procedure, can recognise SecureSign as a Certifying Authority for the purposes of the IT Act in India. This recognition is made official through a notification in the Official Gazette.

Once SecureSign is recognised under...