E-governance under the IT Act; private and public keys

Comment. The statement is correct. E-governance, the use of electronic records and electronic signatures in the work of government, removes the delay of paper files and personal attendance, and the electronic record it leaves makes government action easier to trace. The Information Technology Act, 2000 gives it legal force in Chapter III, "Electronic Governance".

Provisions on e-governance:

1. Legal recognition of electronic records (section 4): where any law requires information to be in writing or in typewritten or printed form, the requirement is deemed satisfied if the information is rendered or made available in an electronic form and is accessible so as to be usable for a subsequent reference.
2. Legal recognition of electronic signatures (section 5): where any law requires information to be authenticated by a signature, or a document to be signed, the requirement is deemed satisfied if it is authenticated by an electronic signature affixed in the manner prescribed by the Central Government.
3. Reliable electronic signatures (section 3A): an electronic signature or authentication technique is considered reliable only if the signature creation data are linked to the signatory and to no other person, were under his control at the time of signing, any alteration to the signature or to the information after signing is detectable, and it fulfils such other conditions as may be prescribed.
4. Electronic records in Government and its agencies (section 6): where a law requires a form or application to be filed with a government office, a licence or permit to be issued, or money to be received or paid in a particular manner, doing it in the electronic form the appropriate Government prescribes satisfies that law.
5. Delivery of services by service providers (section 6A): the appropriate Government may authorise service providers to set up and run computerised facilities for delivering public services electronically, and to collect service charges on a notified scale.
6. Retention of electronic records (section 7). Where a law requires documents, records or information to be kept for a set period, keeping them in electronic form satisfies it, provided all three conditions are met:
   1. the information stays accessible, so that it can be used for later reference;
   2. the record is kept in the format in which it was first generated, sent or received, or in a format that can be shown to represent that original information accurately; and
   3. the record carries the details that identify its origin and destination and the date and time it was sent or received. This condition does not apply to information generated automatically only to enable the record to be sent or received. Section 7 does not apply where a law itself expressly provides for keeping the documents as electronic records (s. 7(2)).
7. Audit of electronic records (section 7A): where a law provides for the audit of documents, records or information, that provision applies equally to those processed and kept in electronic form.
8. Electronic Gazette (section 8): where a law requires a rule, regulation, order, bye-law, notification or other matter to be published in the Official Gazette, publication in the Official Gazette or the Electronic Gazette satisfies it; and where the matter appears in both, the date of publication is the date of whichever Gazette was published first in any form.
9. No right to insist on the electronic form (section 9): sections 6, 7 and 8 do not give anyone a right to insist that a Ministry or Department of the Central or a State Government, or an authority or body set up by law or controlled or funded by either Government, must accept, issue, create, keep and preserve a document as an electronic record, or carry out a money transaction electronically. The Government may move to electronic working; a citizen cannot compel it to.
10. Rules on electronic signatures (section 10): for the purposes of the Act the Central Government may make rules prescribing (a) the type of electronic signature; (b) the manner and format in which it is affixed; (c) the manner or procedure for identifying the person who affixes it; (d) control processes and procedures to ensure the integrity, security and confidentiality of electronic records or payments; and (e) any other matter needed to give electronic signatures legal effect.
11. Contracts formed electronically (section 10A): where the proposal, the acceptance, or a revocation of either is communicated in electronic form or by electronic records, the contract is not unenforceable merely because that electronic form or means was used.

Private and public keys. Electronic records are authenticated with a key pair: a private key and its mathematically related public key, “so related that the public key can verify a digital signature created by the private key” (section 2(1)(x)). Their functions differ:

• the private key is the key of the pair used to create a digital signature (section 2(1)(zc)); the subscriber keeps it under his control, since whoever holds it can sign in his name;
• the public key is the key of the pair used to verify the digital signature; anyone relying on the signed record uses it to confirm that the record was signed with the matching private key.

Conclusion. Sections 4 and 5 make electronic records and signatures legally equal to paper and ink, sections 6 to 10A carry that into filings, records, audit, the Gazette and contracts, and the private and public key pair makes such signatures secure and verifiable; together they make e-governance efficient, speedy and transparent.