The Architecture Of Control: Tracing The Evolution Of India’s Digital Surveillance Laws From The Telegraph Act To The Telecommunications Act, 2023
- IJLLR Journal
- Sep 12
- 1 min read
Jisa Jos, LLB, Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram
ABSTRACT
This paper traces the historical and legal evolution of India’s surveillance framework, examining its journey from the colonial-era Indian Telegraph Act of 1885 to the modern Telecommunications Act of 2023. It analyses how the foundational principles of state interception, established under the Telegraph Act, have been adapted, expanded, and embedded into the digital age through subsequent legislation, such as the Information Technology Act, 2000, and its associated rules. The paper argues that India's surveillance jurisprudence is characterized by a persistent legal path dependency, where colonial-era imperatives of control have been systematically digitized and strengthened, often at the expense of the fundamental right to privacy. It critically examines the key provisions of the new Telecommunications Act, 2023, assessing it not as a break from the past but as a culmination of this evolutionary process, which grants the state expansive, centralized powers with insufficient judicial oversight. The paper concludes by discussing the profound implications of this architecture of control for democracy and civil
liberties in India.
Keywords: Surveillance Laws (India), Telecommunications Act 2023, Indian Telegraph Act 1885, Digital Privacy, National Security, Interception & Monitoring, Information Technology Act 2000, Right to Privacy
