All NotesCivil LawInformation Technology Act, 2000

Information Technology Act, 2000

IT Act Amendments after 2008: Section 66A Omission, 2022 Schedule and Jan Vishwas

After the great rebuild of 2008, the IT Act was not rewritten again. It was pruned. Three quieter changes have shaped the Act as it reads today: a void provision (Section 66A) was finally removed from the text; the 2022 notification widened the range of transactions that can be done electronically; and the Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 converted several minor offences into civil penalties while raising fines for corporate default. This note takes a survey view of that rationalisation. Topic 40 goes through the Jan Vishwas changes section by section, and Topic 39 covers the separate transition to the DPDP Act.

1. Pruning, Not Replanting

A gardener who inherits an overgrown orchard does not uproot it. He cuts away the dead branch that still hangs from the tree, opens a gate that was locked for no good reason, and swaps heavy chains for lighter fences where a chain was never needed. The IT Act after 2008 has had exactly this treatment: Section 66A was the dead branch, the 2022 Schedule amendment opened the gate, and the Jan Vishwas Act replaced chains (imprisonment) with fences (penalties).

The IT Act after 2008: key changes

Figure 1: The IT Act after 2008: key changes

2. Section 66A: From Insertion to Omission

Section 66A, IT Act, 2000 (as inserted in 2008, now omitted)

Any person who sends, by means of a computer resource or a communication device, (a) any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character; or (b) any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred or ill will, persistently by making use of such computer resource or a communication device; or (c) any electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to mislead the addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine.

📖 Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, (2015) 5 SCC 1

Held: Section 66A was struck down in its entirety as violating Article 19(1)(a) and not saved by Article 19(2).

Reasons: Words like 'grossly offensive', 'annoyance' and 'inconvenience' were vague and undefined; the section was overbroad, catching innocent speech; and it had a chilling effect. It drew no line between discussion, advocacy and incitement, and only incitement can be restricted.

Also: Section 69A and the Blocking Rules were upheld; Section 79(3)(b) was read down to require actual knowledge through a court order or government notification.

The lifecycle of Section 66A

Figure 2: The lifecycle of Section 66A

  • The afterlife. Despite the 2015 ruling, police continued to register cases under Section 66A. In PUCL v. Union of India (2021) the Supreme Court called this 'shocking', and on 12 October 2022 it directed that no citizen be prosecuted under Section 66A, that the section be deleted from pending cases, and that police and publishers of the Act note that it has been struck down.
  • Why omission still mattered. A post-Constitution law that violates a fundamental right is void from its inception (Deep Chand v. State of U.P., AIR 1959 SC 648), but a void section still sits in the printed text until Parliament removes it, and that is what misled police stations.
  • Omission. The Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 formally omitted Section 66A with effect from 30 November 2023. The void section is now also gone from the statute book.
  • Where the speech offences went. Genuine threats, defamation and incitement fall under the BNS; obscene and sexually explicit content under Sections 67 to 67B of the IT Act; and blocking under Section 69A.

3. The First Schedule Amendment, 2022

  • Power. The proviso to Section 1(4) lets the Central Government amend the First Schedule by notification, adding or deleting entries, and Section 1(5) requires every such notification to be laid before each House of Parliament.
  • Instrument. Notification S.O. 4720(E) dated 26 September 2022, published in the Gazette on 6 October 2022.
  • Why. Digital lending, e-mandates and online financial products needed promissory notes and powers of attorney to be executed electronically, and regulated entities were already subject to strong oversight.

The First Schedule after the 2022 notification

Figure 3: The First Schedule after the 2022 notification

  • Expansion of electronic transactions. Loan documentation with banks, NBFCs, housing finance companies, insurers, brokers and pension entities can now be completed end to end with an electronic signature.
  • Immovable property. Omitting entry 5 means an agreement for sale of immovable property may be formed electronically; but stamp duty and, where required, registration under the Registration Act, 1908 still apply (see Topic 32 and Topic 35)
  • What did not change. Trusts and wills remain excluded, as do private promissory notes and ordinary powers of attorney.

4. The Jan Vishwas Act, 2023: An Overview

  • The Act. The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 (Act 18 of 2023) amended 183 provisions across 42 Central Acts to decriminalise minor, technical and procedural defaults and so improve ease of doing business and ease of living.
  • IT Act entries. Eleven sections of the IT Act were amended: 33, 44, 45, 46, 66A, 67C, 68, 69B, 70B, 72 and 72A.
  • Commencement. For the IT Act, the amendments came into force on 30 November 2023 under notification S.O. 4745(E) dated 31 October 2023.

Five themes of the 2023 rationalisation

Figure 4: Five themes of the 2023 rationalisation

  • Decriminalisation. Failure by a Certifying Authority to surrender its licence (s.33), failure of an intermediary to preserve information (s.67C), failure to obey the Controller (s.68), breach of confidentiality by persons acting under the Act (s.72) and disclosure in breach of lawful contract (s.72A) are now civil penalties, not offences.
  • Changes in penalties. Section 44 penalties rose tenfold; Section 45 became a penalty of up to ₹1 lakh plus compensation up to ₹10 lakh (intermediaries, companies, bodies corporate) or ₹1 lakh (others); Sections 69B(4) and 70B(7) now carry up to one year or fine up to ₹1 crore or both.
  • Changes in adjudication. Section 46 now empowers the adjudicating officer to decide contraventions under the whole Act, not just Chapter IX, so the newly civil penalties have a forum.

⚠ Exam trap

Decriminalisation was selective. The core cyber crimes in Sections 65 to 67B, cyber terrorism (s.66F), non-compliance with interception and blocking orders (ss.69, 69A), unauthorised access to protected systems (s.70) and the certificate offences (ss.71, 73, 74) remain fully criminal. Do not write that the Jan Vishwas Act 'decriminalised the IT Act'.

5. The IT Act Before and After Jan Vishwas

The IT Act on either side of 30 November 2023

Figure 5: The IT Act on either side of 30 November 2023

  • Philosophy. Before: criminal law was used for regulatory lapses. After: money penalties for defaults, prosecution reserved for dishonest or dangerous conduct.
  • Deterrence. Before: fines were too small to trouble large platforms. After: penalties up to ₹25 lakh, and fines up to ₹1 crore for traffic data and CERT-In defaults.
  • Forum. Before: minor defaults went to criminal courts. After: the adjudicating officer handles them, with appeal to TDSAT (s.57) and the High Court (s.62)
  • Successor reform. The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2026 continued the programme across some 79 other Acts; published summaries do not list the IT Act among them, so check the Schedule before citing it.

6. Assessment

  • Strengths. Removes a void offence that was still being misused; ends criminal exposure of officials and employees for technical lapses; gives penalties that large intermediaries will notice.
  • Criticisms. Section 72A, the main privacy wrong against individuals, is now a civil penalty only, just as the DPDP Act also creates no offences; the enhanced ₹1 crore fines in ss.69B and 70B tilt further toward State power; and the Act remains a patchwork awaiting the proposed Digital India Act.

7. Quick Revision and Memory Aids

  • 'Dead branch, open gate, lighter fence'. 66A omitted, 2022 Schedule, Jan Vishwas.
  • '2009 in, 2015 void, 2022 directions, 2023 out'. Life of Section 66A.
  • '4720 opens, 4745 decriminalises'. The two S.O. numbers.
  • 'Licence, logs, Controller, confidence, contract'. Decriminalised: 33, 67C, 68, 72, 72A.
  • 'Ten times 44'. ₹15 lakh; ₹50,000 and ₹1 lakh per day.

8. Frequently Asked Questions

If Section 66A was struck down in 2015, why was it omitted in 2023?

A declaration of unconstitutionality makes the section void, but it remains in the printed text until Parliament removes it. Its continued presence led to fresh FIRs, which the Supreme Court addressed in PUCL (2022). The Jan Vishwas Act removed it from 30 November 2023.

Which IT Act offences were decriminalised in 2023?

Sections 33, 67C, 68, 72 and 72A, which now carry civil penalties of up to ₹5 lakh (ss.33, 72) or ₹25 lakh (ss.67C, 68, 72A), adjudicated under Section 46.

9. Related Topics

  • Topic 39: DPDP Act and the Transition. The other post-2008 change to the Act.
  • Topic 40: Jan Vishwas Act and the IT Act. The 2023 amendments section by section.