Chapter Sixty-Two: The colonial hangovers of India's new Telecommunications Bill
For over a hundred and fifty years, from 1850 to 2013, India had a telegraph service- one that many would remember before the age phones became cheap and ubiquitous. Under the British Raj, telegraph offices were set up, and trans-country services were run. While unrest and opposition to the colonial government had already existed, it was by 1857 that the colonial government faced a striking blow- in the 'first' major uprising and mutiny recorded as the First War of Independence. As the mutinies and rebellions continued, in 1885 the colonial government passed a legislation, the India Telegraph Act- because quickly transmitting information, and intercepting rebels' communications was key to holding power over the subcontinent. The act authorised law agencies to intercept communications in cases where they deem it necessary.