2013 Supreme(Kar) 344

KARNATAKA HIGH COURT
Aravind Kumar, J.
Sudarshan Cargo Private Limited, Bangalore - Petitioner
Versus
M/s. Techvac Engineering Private Limited, Mysore - Respondent
Company Petition No. 11 of 2013
Decided on: 25.6.2013

Headnote:INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACT, 2000 - Section 4: [Aravind Kumar, J] Legal recognition to electronic records - E-mail communication and legal recognition - Held, Section 4 of the IT Act, 2000 provides that if information or any other matter is to be in writing or in the typewritten or printed form, then, not withstanding anything contained in such law, the requirement is deemed to have been satisfied if such information or matter is rendered or made available in an ’electronic form’ and same is accessible to be used for a subsequent reference. Further Held, Undisputedly, an e-mail is a communication addressed to a definite person and it means a person who is intended by ’originator’ to receive such electronic record as per Section 2(b) of IT Act, 2000 and the ’originator’ would mean a person who sends or transmits any electronic message to any other person as defined under Section 2(za) of IT Act, of 2000. Thus, if an acknowledgment is sent by a ’originator’ to the ’addressee’ by e-mail, without any intermediary, it amounts to electronic communication by e-mail which is an alternative to the paper based method of communication. This mode of transaction is legally recognized under Section 4 of the IT Act, of 2000.

       LIMITATION ACT, 1963 - Section 18: [Aravind Kumar, J] Effect of acknowledgement in writing - Whether e-mail/s acknowledgement the debt would constitute a valid and legal acknowledgment of debt though not singed as required under Section 18 of the Limitation Act ? Held, An acknowledgment of debt by e-mail originating from a person who intends to send or transmit such electronic message to any other person who would be the ’addressee’ would constitute a valid acknowledgement of debt and it would satisfy the requirement of Section 18 of the Limitation Act, 1963 when originator disputes having sent the e-mail to the recipient.

       INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT, 1872 - Section 3: [Aravind Kumar, J] Meaning of evidence - Substitution of Clause (2) in Section 3 -- Held, Information Technology Act, 2000 coming into force from 17.10.2000, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 also correspondingly came to be amended and certain provisions of the Evidence Act has also undergone changes by Act 21 of 2000. The word "evidence" as defined under Section 3 interpretation clause, has undergone change and Clause (2) is substituted and as per Clause 2 of Section 3, all documents including electronic records produced for the inspection of the Court, such documents are called documentary evidence. Further held, Another insertion to Section 3 of the Evidence Act was made, where under certain expressions having the meanings assigned to them in the IT Act, 2000 also came to be inserted and they are "the expressions "Certifying Authority", electronic signature, Electronic Signature Certificate, "electronic form", "electronic records", "information", "secure electronic record", "secure digital signature" and "subscriber" shall have the meaning respectively assigned to them in the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000)".

       CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, 1908 - Order 5, Rule 9 & 9(3): [Aravind Kumar, J] Issue of suit summons by means of fax message or e-mail service - Held, Order 5 of Code of Civil Procedure prescribes the mode and procedure for issue and service of summons. Rule 9 of Order 5 came to be substituted by Act 22/2002 and under the amended provision namely sub-Rule (3) of Rule 9 of Order 5, enables the Court to issue summons to the defendant by delivering or transmitting a copy thereof addressed to the defendant or his agent apart from other modes prescribed therein and also by means of fax message or electronic mail service. Further, In view of the fact that digital technology and electronic communication system becoming part of day to day transactions and the use of computers have resulted in the traditional paper documents giving way to the utilization of advanced technology and as such the electronic commerce eliminates the need for paper based transaction and keeping in mind the fact that India was a signatory to the United Nations’ Commission on International Trade Law, it adopted the modern law on electronic commerce in 1996 and to revise the law as per modern laws and to bring in suitable amendments to the existing laws to facilitate e-commerce, e-governance. Hence, the Information Technology Act, 2000 was enacted. Thus, keeping the statement of objects and reasons with which the IT Act, 2000, came into force, the statutory provisions have to be understood so as to achieve its purpose and not to dilute it resulting in such interpretation defeating the purpose of the IT Act, 2000 for which it was enacted. On facts, Further, The very preamble of IT Act, 2000 would indicate that it has been enacted to provide legal recognition for transactions which would be carried out by use of electronic data as an alternative to traditional paper based communications. The necessity to introduce the said Act can be noticed from the preamble of IT Act, 2000 and the introduction would be complete answer to the issue on hand.