Telegraphs Act, 1885

The Telegraph Act, 1885 is the foundational law regulating telegraph systems in Pakistan - a term that, through later amendment, now covers wire, radio, and other electromagnetic transmission systems generally, not just old-style telegraphs. Section 4 gives the Federal Government the exclusive right to establish and operate telegraphs, while allowing it to license other people or companies to do so, including wireless telegraphs on ships and aircraft. Section 5 lets the government temporarily take over a licensed telegraph, or order interception of messages, during a public emergency or where public safety requires it.

Part III (Sections 10 to 19) gives the "telegraph authority" the power to place and maintain telegraph lines and posts on land, including private property, subject to paying for any damage caused and following a dispute process if a local authority objects; Section 18 allows removal of trees that interfere with telegraph communication.

Most of the Act's detail is a set of specific criminal offences protecting telegraph infrastructure and communications. Section 20 penalizes establishing an unauthorized telegraph, and Section 21 penalizes using one. Section 23 penalizes trespassing into a signal room or telegraph office or otherwise obstructing it. Section 24 penalizes unlawfully trying to learn the contents of a telegraph message. Section 25 and its related sub-sections (25A-25D) penalize damaging, tampering with, or stealing telegraph lines and equipment. Section 26 penalizes a telegraph officer who alters, unlawfully intercepts, or discloses messages passing through their hands. Section 27 penalizes a telegraph officer who fraudulently sends messages without the required payment being made. Section 29 penalizes sending fabricated or obscene messages. Section 30 makes it an offence, punishable by up to two years' imprisonment or a fine or both, to fraudulently keep or refuse to hand over a message that was delivered by mistake. Section 31 treats a telegraph officer as a "public servant" for the purposes of the Pakistan Penal Code's bribery provisions (sections 161 to 165). Section 33 lets a Provincial Government deploy extra police, at the cost of local residents, in an area where damage to telegraph infrastructure is happening repeatedly and maliciously.

This is a very old law from 1885 with an extensive amendment history - the extract's footnotes show changes made through Acts and Ordinances in 1914, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1975, and 1981, and the Act was even repealed in 1994 before being revived in 1995. Given this long history of change, readers should check the current official text for up-to-date definitions and any current penalty amounts not covered by this extract.