The indian telegraph act, 1885
(1) This Act may be called the Indian Telegraph
Act, 1885.
1[(2) It extends to whole of India2***.]
(3) It shall come into force on the first day of October, 1885.
[Repeal and savings.] Rep. by the Repealing Act, 1938 (1 of 1938), s. 2 and the
Schedule.
In this Act, unless there is something repugnant in the subject or context,--
1[(1) "Fund" means the Universal Service Obligation Fund established undersub-section (1) of section 9A;
(1A) "Universal Service Obligation" means the 2[obligation to provide access to telegraph services] to people in the rural and remote areas at affordable and reasonable
prices;]
3[4[(1AA) "telegraph" means any appliance, instrument, material or apparatus used or
capable of use for transmission or reception of signs, signals, writing, images and sounds or
intelligence of any nature by wire, visual or other electro-magnetic emissions, Radio waves
or Hertzian waves, galvanic, electric or magnetic means;
1[(1)]
Within 2[India], the Central Government shall have the exclusive privilege of establishing,
maintaining and working telegraphs:
Provided that the Central Government may grant a license, on such conditions and in
consideration of such payments as it thinks fit, to any person to establish, maintain or work a
telegraph within any part of 2[India]:
3[Provided further that the Central Government may, by rules made under this Act and
published in the Official Gazette, permit, subject to such restrictions and conditions as it thinks
fit, the establishment, maintenance and working--
(a) of wireless telegraphs on ships within Indian territorial waters 4
1 [5. Power for Government to take possession of licensed telegraphs and to order interception of messages.--(1) On the occurrence of any public emergency, or in the interest
of the 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 may, if satisfied
that it is necessary or expedient so to do, take temporary possession (for so long as the public emergency exists or the interest of the public safety requires the taking of such action) of any
telegraph established, maintained or worked by any person licensed under this Act.
(2) On the occurrence of any public emergency, or in the interest of the 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 may, if satisfi
Any Railway Company, on being
required so to do by the Central Government, shall permit the Government to establish and maintain a
telegraph upon any part of the land of the Company, and shall give every reasonable facility for working
the same.
1[6A. Power to notify rates for transmission of messages to countries outside India.-- (1) The
Central Government may, from time to time, by order, notify the rates at which, and the other
conditions and restrictions subject to which, messages shall be transmitted to any country outside India.
(2) In notifying the rates under sub-section (1), the Central Government shall have due regard to all
or any of the following factors, namely:--
(a) the rates for the time being in force, for transmission of messages, in countries outside India;
(b) the foreign exchange rates for the time being in force;
(1) The Central Government may,
from time to time, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules1
consistent with this Act for
for the conduct of all or any telegraphs established, maintained or worked by the Government or
by persons licensed under this Act.
(2) Rules under this section may provide for all or any of the following, among other matters, that is
to say:--
(a) the rates at which, and the other conditions and restrictions subject to which, messages shall
be transmitted 2[within India;]
(b) the precautions to be taken for preventing the improper interception or disclosure of
messages;
1[7A. Saving of existing agreements.-- Nothing in section 7 shall authorise the making of any
rules determing any agreement entered into by the Central Government with any person before the
commencement of the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act, 1957 (47 of 1957), relating to the
establishment, maintenance or working of any telegraph line, appliance or apparatus for telegraphic
communication; and all rights and obligations thereunder relating to such establishment, maintenance
or working shall be determined in accordance with the terms and conditions of such agreement.
17B. Arbitration of disputes.--1) Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, if
any dispute concerning any telegraph line, appliance or apparatus arises between the telegraph
authority and the person for whose benefit the line, appliance or apparatus is, or has been,
provided, the dispute shall be determined by arbitration and shall, for the purposes of such
determination, be referred to an arbitrator appointed by the Central Government either specially
for the determination of that dispute or generally for the determination of disputes under this
section.
(2) The award of the arbitrator appointed under sub-section (1) shall be conclusive between
the parties to the dispute and shall not be questioned in any court.]
The Central Government may, at any time, revoke any license
granted under section 4, on the breach of any of the conditions therein contained, or in default of
payment of any consideration payable thereunder.
The 1[Government] shall not be
responsible for any loss or damage which may occur in consequence of any telegraph officer
failing in his duty with respect to the receipt, transmission or delivery of any message; and no
such officer shall be responsible for any such loss or damage, unless he causes the same
negligently, maliciously or fraudulently.
(1) On and from the
commencement of the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act, 2003 (8 of 2004), there shall be
established, for the purposes of this Act, a Fund to be called the "Universal Service Obligation
Fund"
(2) The Fund shall be under the control of the Central Government and t here shall be credited thereto--
(a) any sums of money paid under section 9B;
(b) any grants and loans made by the Central Government under section 9C.
(3) The balance to the credit of the Fund shall not lapse at the end of the financial year.
The sums of money received towards the
Universal Service Obligation under section 4 shall first be credited to the Consolidated Fund of India, and
the Central Government may, if Parliament by appropriation made by law in this behalf so provides,
credit such proceeds to the Fund from time to time for being utilised exclusively for meeting the
Universal Service Obligation.
The Central Government may, after due
appropriation made by Parliament by law in this behalf, credit by way of grants and loans such sums of
money as that Government may consider necessary in the Fund.
(1) The Central Government shall have the power to
administer the Fund in such manner as may be prescribed by rules made under this Act.
(2) The Fund shall be utilised exclusively for meeting the Universal Service Obligation.
(3) The Central Government shall be responsible for the co-ordination and ensuring timely utilisation
and release of sums in accordance with the criteria as may be prescribed by rules made under this Act.]
The
telegraph authority may, from time to time, place and maintain a telegraph line under, over,
along or across, and posts in or upon, any immovable property:
Provided that--
(a) the telegraph authority shall not exorcise the powers conferred by this section except for the
purposes of a telegraph establish Ector maintained by the 1[Central Government], or to be so
established or maintained;
(b) the 1[Central Government] shall not acquire any right other than that of user only in the
property under, over, along, across, in or upon which the telegraph authority places any telegraph line
or post;
The telegraph authority may, at any time, for the purpose of examining, repairing, altering or
removing any telegraph line or post, enter on the property under, over, along, across, in or upon which
the line or post has been placed.
Provisions applicable to property vested in or under the control or management of local authorities.
Any permission given by a local authority under section 10, clause ( c), may be
given subject to such reasonable conditions as that authority thinks fit to impose, as to the
payment of any expenses to which the authority will necessarily be put in consequence of the
exercise of the powers conferred by that section, or as to the time or mode of execution of any
work, or as to any other thing connected with or relative to any work undertaken by the
telegraph authority under those powers.
When, under the foregoing provisions of this Act, a telegraph line or post has been
placed by the telegraph authority under, over, along, across, in or upon any property vested in or under the control or management of a local authority, and the local authority, having regard
to circumstances which have arisen since the telegraph line or post was so placed, considers it
expedient that it should be removed or that its position should be altered, the local authority
may require the telegraph authority to remove it or alter its position, as the case may be.
The telegraph authority may,
for the purpose of exercising the powers conferred upon it by this Act in respect of any property
vested in or under the control or management of a local authority, alter the position thereunder of
any pipe (not being a main) for the supply of gas or water, or of any drain (not being a main
drain):
Provided that
(a) when the telegraph authority desires to alter the position of any such pipe or drain it
shall give reasonable notice of its intention to do so, specifying the time at which it will
begin to do so, to the local authority, and, when the pipe or drain is not under the control of
the local authority, to the person under whose control the pipe or drain is;
(1) If any dispute arises
between the telegraph authority and a local authority in consequence of the local authority
refusing the permission referred to in section 10, clause (c), or prescribing any condition under
section 12, or in consequence of the telegraph authority omitting to comply with a requisition
made under section 13, or otherwise in respect of the exercise of the powers conferred by this
Act, it shall be determined by such officer as the 1[Central Government] may appoint either
generally or specially in this behalf.
(2) An appeal from the determination of the officer so appointed shall lie to the '[Central
Government]; and the order of the 1[Central Government] shall be final.
(1) If the exercise of the powers mentioned in
section 10 in respect of property referred to in clause (d) of that section is resisted or obstructed,
the District Magistrate may, in his discretion, order that the telegraph authority shall be permitted
to exercise them.
(2) If, after the making of an order under sub-section (1), any person resists the exercise of
those powers, or, having control over the property, does not give all facilities for their being
exercised, he shall be deemed to have committed an offence under section 188 of the Indian
Penal Code (45 of 1860).
(3) If any dispute arises concerning the sufficiency of the compensation to be paid under
section 10, clause (d), it shall, on application for that purpose by either of the disputing parties to
the District Judge within whose jurisdiction the
(1) When, under the foregoing provisions of this Act, a telegraph line or post
has been placed by the telegraph authority under, over, along, across, in or upon any property,
not being property vested in or under the control or management of a local authority, and any
person entitled to do so desires to deal with that property in such a manner as to render it
necessary or convenient that the telegraph line or post should be removed to another part thereof
or to a higher or lower level or altered in form, he may require the telegraph authority to remove
or alter the line or post accordingly:
Provided that, if compensation has been paid under section 10, clause (d), he shall, when
making the requisition, tender to the telegraph authority the amount requisite to defray the
expense of the removal or alteration, or half of the amount paid as compensation, whichever
may b
(1) If any trees standing or lying
near a telegraph line interrupts, or is likely to interrupt, telegraphic communication, a Magistrate of the
first or second class may, on the application of the telegraph authority, cause the tree to be removed or
dealt with in such other way as he deems fit.
(2) When disposing of an application under sub-section (1), the Magistrate shall, in the case of any
tree in existence before the telegraph line was placed, award to the persons interested in the tree such
compensation as he thinks reasonable, and the award shall be final.
Every telegraph line or
post placed before the passing of this Act under, over, along, across, in or upon any property, for the
purposes of a telegraph established or maintained by the 1[Central Government], shall be deemed to
have been placed in exercise of the powers conferred by, and after observance of all the requirements
of, this Act.
1[19A. Person exercising legal right likely to damage telegraph or interfere with telegraphic
communication to give notice.--(1) Any person desiring to deal in the legal exercise of a right with
any property in such a manner as is likely to cause damage to a telegraph line or post which has been
duly placed in accordance with the provisions of this Act, or to interrupt or interfere with telegraphic
communication, shall give not less than one month's notice in writing of the intended exercise of
such right to the telegraph authority, or to any telegraph officer whom the telegraph authority may
empower in this behalf.
(2) If any such person without having complied with the provisions of sub-section (1) deals with
any property in such a manner as is likely to cause damage to any telegraph line or post, or to interrupt
or interfere with telegraphic communication, a Ma
2[19A. Person exercising legal right likely to damage telegraph or interfere with telegraphic
communication to give notice.--The
Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, confer upon any licensee under
section 4, in -
respect of the extent of his license and subject to any conditions and restrictions
which the 1[Central Government] may think fit to impose and to the provisions of this Part, all or
airy of the powers which the telegraph authority possesses under this Part with regard to a
telegraph established or maintained by the Government or to be so established or maintained:
Provided that the notice prescribed in section 19A shall always be given to the telegraph authority or
officer empowered to receive notice under section 19A (1).]
1[20. Establishing, maintaining or working unauthorised telegraph.--(1) If any person
establishes, maintains or works a telegraph within2[India] in contravention of the provisions of
section 4 or otherwise tlian as permitted by rules made under that section, he shall be punished, if the
telegraph is a wireless telegraph, with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or
with both, and, in any other case, with a fine which may extend to one thousand rupees.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898),
offences under this section in respect of a wireless telegraph shall, for the purposes of the said Code, be
bailable and non-cognizable.
(3) When any person is convicted of an offence punishable under this section, the Court before which
he
If any person, knowing or having, reason to believe that a
telegraph has been established or is maintained or worked, in contravention of this Act, transmits or
receives any message by such telegraph, or performs any service incidental thereto, or delivers any
message for transmission by such telegraph or accepts delivery of any message sent thereby, he shall
be punished with fine which may extend to fifty rupees.
If a Railway Company, or an officer
of a Railway Company, neglects or refuses to comply with the provisions of section 6, it or he shall be
punished with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees for everyday during which the neglect or
refusal continues.
If any person--
(a) without permission of competent authority, enters the signal-room of a telegraph office of the
Government, or of a person licensed under this Act, or
(b) enters a fenced enclosure round such a telegraph office in contravention of any rule or notice
not to do so, or
(c) refuses to quit such room or enclosure on being requested to do so by any officer or servant
employed therein, or
(d) wilfully obstructs or impedes any such officer or servant in the performance of his
duty,
he shal
If any person does any of the acts
mentioned in section 23 with the intention of unlawfully learning the contents of any message, or of
committing any offence punishable under this Act, he may (in addition to the fine with which he is
punishable under section 23) be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year.
If any person intending--
(a) to prevent or obstruct the transmission or delivery of any message, or
(b) to intercept or to acquaint himself with the contents of any message , or
(c) to commit mischief,
damages, removes, tampers with or touches any battery, machinery, telegraph line, post or
other thing whatever, being part of or used in or about any telegraph or in the working
thereof,
he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with
both.
1[25A. Injury to or interference with a telegraph line or post.--If, in any case not provided for
by section 25, any person deals with any property and thereby wilfully or negligently damages any
telegraph line or post duly placed on such property in accordance with the provisions of this Act, he
shall be liable to pay the telegraph authority such expenses (if any) as may be incurred in making
good such damage, and shall also, if the telegraphic communication is by reason of the damage so
caused interrupted, be punishable with a fine which may extend to one thousand rupees:
Provided that the provisions of this section shall not apply where such damage or interruption is
caused by a person dealing with any property in the legal exercise of a right if he has complied with
the provisions of section 19A (1).]
If any telegraph officer, or any person, not
being a telegraph officer but having official duties connected with any office which is used as a telegraph
office,--
(a) wilfully secretes makes away with or alters any message which he has received for
transmission or delivery, or
(b) wilfully, and otherwise than in obedience to an order of the Central Government or of a
State Government, or of an officer specially authorized 1[by the Central or a State Government]
to make the order, omits to transmit, or intercepts or detains, any message or any part thereof,
or otherwise than in pursuance of his official duty or in obedience to the direction of a
competent Court, discloses the contents or any part of the contents of any me ssage, to any
person
If any telegraph
officer transmits by telegraph any message on which the charge prescribed by the 1[Central Government], or by a person licensed under this Act, as the case may be, has not been paid,
intending thereby to defraud the 1[Central Government] or that person, he shall be punished with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
If any telegraph officer, or any person not being a telegraph officer but
having official duties connected with any office which is used as a telegraph office, is guilty of any
act of drunkenness, carelessness or other misconduct whereby the correct transmission or the
delivery of any message is impeded or delayed, or if any telegraph officer loiters or delays in the
transmission or delivery of any message, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which
may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to one hundred rupees, or with both.
[Sending fabricated message.] Rep. by the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act, 1971 (33 of 1971),
s. 4.
1[29A. Penalty--If any person, without due authority,--
(a) makes or issues any document of a nature reasonably calculated to cause it to be believed that the document has been issued by, or under the authority of, the DirectorGeneral of 2[Posts and Telegraphs], or
(b) makes on any document any mark in imitation of, or similar to, or purporting to be, any stamp or mark of any telegraph office under the Director-General of1[Posts and Telegraphs], or a mark of a nature reasonably calculated to cause it to be believed that the
document so marked has been issued by, or under the authority of, the Director-General of
1[Posts and Telegraphs],
he shal
If any person fraudulently retains, or
wilfully secretes, makes away with or detains a message which ought to have been delivered to
some other person, or, being required by a telegraph officer to deliver up any such message,
neglects or refuses to do so, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend
to two years, or with fine, or with both.
A telegraph officer shall be deemed a public servant within the meaning of
sections 161, 162, 163, 164 and 165 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860); and in the
definition of "legal remuneration" contained in the said section 161, the word Government
shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to include a person licensed under this Act.
Whoever attempts to commit any offence punishable
under this Act shall be punished with the punishment herein provided for the offence.
(1) Whenever it appears to the State Government that any act
causing or likely to cause wrongful damage to any telegraph is repeatedly and maliciously
committed in any place, and that the employment of an additional police -force in that place is
thereby rendered necessary, the State Government may send such additional police-force as it
thinks fit to the place, and employ the same therein so long as, in the opinion of that
Government, the necessity of doing so continues.
(2) The inhabitants of the place shall be charged with the cost of the additional police-force,
and the District Magistrate shall, subject to the orders of the State Government, assess the
proportion in which the cost shall be paid by the inhabitants according to his judgment of their
respective means.
(3) All moneys payable under sub-section (2) shall be
1[34. Application of Act to Presidency-towns.--(1) This Act, in its application to the
Presidency-towns, shall be read as if for the words "District Magistrate" in section 16, subsection (1), and section 17, sub-sections (2) and (3), for the words "Magistrate of the first or
second class" in section 18, sub-section (1), 2[and section 19A, sub-section (2)] and for the
word "Magistrate" in section 18, sub-section (2), there had been enacted the words "Commissioner of Police", and for the words District Judge in section 16, sub-sections (3), (4) and (5), the words "Chief Judge of the Court of Small Causes".
3* 135[Reference to certain laws of Part B States.] Rep. by the Part B States (Laws) Act, 1951
(3 of 1951), s. 3 and the Schedule.
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