TDSAT as the Appellate Tribunal under the IT Act

What is TDSAT? The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) is the “Tribunal established under section 14 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997”. Under section 48 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, as substituted by the Finance Act, 2017, TDSAT is, from the date Part XIV of Chapter VI of that Act came into force, the Appellate Tribunal for the purposes of the IT Act, and exercises the jurisdiction, powers and authority conferred by the IT Act; the Central Government specifies the matters and places for its jurisdiction. The separate Cyber Appellate Tribunal provisions (sections 49 to 52C) were omitted by the Finance Act, 2017.

Appeal to TDSAT (section 57). Any person aggrieved by an order of the Controller or an adjudicating officer may appeal to the Appellate Tribunal, except where the adjudicating officer's order was made with the consent of the parties. The appeal must be filed within forty-five days from the date a copy of the order is received, in the prescribed form and with the prescribed fee, though a later appeal may be entertained for sufficient cause. After giving the parties an opportunity of being heard, the Tribunal may confirm, modify or set aside the order; it sends copies of its order to the parties and the Controller or adjudicating officer, and endeavours to dispose of the appeal within six months from the date it receives it.

Procedure and powers (section 58). The Tribunal is not bound by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 but is is guided by natural justice. Subject to the Act's other provisions and any rules, it may regulate its own procedure, including where it sits (s. 58(1)). For discharging its functions under the Act it has the same powers as a civil court trying a suit under the Code, in the matters section 58(2) lists: summoning and enforcing attendance and examining on oath, discovery and production of documents or other electronic records, evidence on affidavits, commissions, reviewing its decisions, dismissing an application for default or deciding it ex parte, and any other prescribed matter.

Conclusion. Since 2017 the telecom appellate tribunal also hears appeals under the IT Act against the orders of the Controller and adjudicating officers.