| 51.
Term of office
The
Presiding Officer of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall hold
office for a term of five years from the date on which he
enters upon his office or until he attains the age of
sixty-five years, whichever is earlier.
52. Salary,
allowances and other terms and conditions of service of
Presiding Officer.
The
salary and allowances payable to, and the other terms and
conditions of service including pension, gratuity and other
retirement benefits of. the Presiding Officer of a Cyber
Appellate Tribunal shall be such as may be prescribed:
Provided that
neither the salary and allowances nor the other terms and
conditions of service of the Presiding Officer shall be varied
to his disadvantage after appointment.
53. Filling
up of vacancies.
If, for reason
other than temporary absence, any vacancy occurs in the office
n the Presiding Officer of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal, then
the Central Government shall appoint another person in
accordance with the provisions of this Act to fill the
vacancy and the proceedings may be continued before the Cyber Appellate
Tribunal from the stage at which the vacancy is filled.
54. Resignation
and removal.
(1) The
Presiding Officer of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal may, by notice
in writing under his hand addressed to the Central
Government, resign his office:
Provided that
the said Presiding Officer shall, unless he is permitted by
the Central Government to relinquish his office sooner,
continue to hold office until the expiry of three months from
the date of receipt of such notice or until a person duly
appointed as his successor enters upon his office or until the
expiry of his term of office, whichever is the earliest.
(2) The
Presiding Officer of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall not be
removed from his office except by an order by the Central
Government on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity
after an inquiry made by a Judge of the Supreme Court in
which the Presiding Officer concerned has been informed of the
charges against him and given a reasonable opportunity of
being heard in respect of these charges.
(3) The Central
Government may, by rules, regulate the procedure for the
investigation of misbehaviour or incapacity of the
aforesaid Presiding Officer.
55. Orders
constituting Appellate Tribunal to be final and not to
invalidate its proceedings.
No order
of the Central Government appointing any person as the
Presiding Officer of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall be
called in question in any manner and no act or proceeding
before a Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall be called in
question in any manner on the ground merely of any defect in
the constitution of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal.
56. Staff
of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal.
(1) The Central
Government shall provide the Cyber Appellate Tribunal with
such officers and employees as that Government may think
fit
(2) The
officers and employees of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall
discharge their functions under general superintendence
of the Presiding Officer.
(3) The
salaries, allowances and other conditions of service of the
officers and employees or' the Cyber Appellate Tribunal
shall be such as may be prescribed by the Central Government.
57. Appeal
to Cyber Appellate Tribunal.
(1) Save as
provided in sub-section (2), any person aggrieved by an order
made by Controller or an adjudicating officer under this
Act may prefer an appeal to a Cyber Appellate Tribunal having
jurisdiction in the matter.
(2) No appeal
shall lie to the Cyber Appellate Tribunal from an order made
by an adjudicating officer with the consent of the
parties.
(3) Every
appeal under sub-section (1) shall be filed within a period of
twenty-five days from the date on which a copy of the order
made by the Controller or the adjudicating officer is received
by the person aggrieved and it shall be in such form and
be accompanied by such fee as may be prescribed.
Provided that
the Cyber Appellate Tribunal may entertain an appeal after the
expiry of the said period of twenty-five days if it is
satisfied that there was sufficient cause for not filing it
within that period.
(4) On receipt
of an appeal under sub-section (1), the Cyber Appellate
Tribunal may, after giving the parties to the appeal, an
opportunity of being heard, pass such orders thereon as it
thinks fit, confirming, modifying or setting aside the
order appealed against.
(5) The Cyber
Appellate Tribunal shall send a copy of every order made by it
to" the parties to the appeal and to the concerned
Controller or adjudicating officer.
(6) The appeal
filed before the Cyber Appellate Tribunal under sub-section
(1) shall be dealt with by it as expeditiously as
possible and endeavour shall be made by it to dispose of the
appeal finally within six months from the date of receipt
of the appeal.
58. Procedure and powers of the Cyber
Appellate Tribunal.
(1) The Cyber
Appellate Tribunal shall not be bound by the procedure laid
down by the Code of civil Procedure, 1908 but shall be
guided by the principles of natural justice and, subject to
the other provisions of this Act and of any rules, the
Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall have powers to regulate its own
procedure including the place at which it shall have its
sittings.
(2) The Cyber
Appellate Tribunal shall have, for the purposes of discharging
its functions under this Act, the same powers as are
vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure,
1908, while trying a suit, in respect of the following
matters, namely :-
(a)
summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and
examining him on oath.
(b)
requiring the discovery and production of documents or other
electronic records.
(c)
receiving evidence on affidavits.
(d)
issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or
documents.
(e)
reviewing its decisions.
(f)
dismissing an application for default or deciding it ex pane.
(g)
any other matter which may be prescribed.
(3) Every
proceeding before the Cyber Appellate Tribunal shall be deemed
to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of
sections 193 and 228, and for the purposes of section 196 of
the Indian Penal Code and the Cyber Appellate Tribunal
shall be deemed to be a civil court for the purposes of
section 195 and Chapter XXVI of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973.
59. Right
to legal representation.
The appellant
may either appear in person or authorise one or more legal
practitioners or any of its officers to present his or
its case before the Cyber Appellate Tribunal.
60. Limitation.
The provisions
of the Limitation Act, 1963, shall, as far as may be, apply to
an appeal made to the Cyber Appellate Tribunal.
61. Civil
court not to have jurisdiction.
No court shall
have jurisdiction to entertain any suit or proceeding in
respect of any matter which an adjudicating officer appointed
under this Act or the Cyber Appellate Tribunal constituted
under this Act is empowered by or under this Act to
determine and no injunction shall be granted by any court or
other authority in respect of any action taken or to be taken
in pursuance of any power conferred by or under this Act.
62. Appeal to High Court.
Any person
aggrieved by any decision or order of the Cyber Appellate
Tribunal may file an appeal to the High Court within
sixty days from the date of communication of the decision or
order of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal to him on any question
of fact or law arising out of such order Provided that the
High Court may, if it is satisfied that the appellant was
prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal
within the said period, allow it to be filed within a further
period not exceeding sixty days.
63. Compounding
of contraventions.
(1) Any
contravention under this Chapter may, either before or after
the institution of adjudication proceedings, be
compounded by the Controller or such other officer as may be
specially authorised by him in this behalf or by the
adjudicating officer, as the case may be, subject to such
conditions as the Controller or such other officer
or the adjudicating officer may specify. Provided that such
sum shall not, in any case, exceed the maximum amount of the
penalty which may be imposed under this Act for the
contravention so compounded.
(2) Nothing
in sub-section (1) shall apply to a person who commits the
same or similar contravention within a period of three
years from the date on which the first contravention,
committed by him, was compounded.
Explanation.For
the purposes of this sub-section, any second or subsequent
contravention committed after the expiry of a period of
three years from the date on which the contravention was
previously compounded shall be deemed to be a first
contravention.
(3)Where
any contravention has been compounded under sub-section (1),
no proceeding or further proceeding, as the case may be,
shall be taken against the person guilty of such contravention
in respect of the contravention so compounded.
64. Recovery
of penalty
A
penalty imposed under this Act, if it is not paid, shall be
recovered as an arrear of land revenue and the license or
the Digital Signature Certificate, as the case may be, shall
be suspended till the penalty is paid.
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