New Delhi: The central government’s proposed amendment to the Indian Post Office Act will allow employees to open postal parcels in the interest of national security or public safety. Apart from this, the officers were also given the power to send them to the concerned authorities if they suspected duty evasion.
These provisions are part of the Post Office Bill, 2023, which was introduced in the Rajya Sabha during the recently concluded monsoon session.This colonial-era law will repeal the ‘Indian Post Office Act, 1898’ and ‘consolidate and amend the law relating to post offices in India’.The bill stipulates the power to intercept, open or detain any item or hand it over to the customs authority, the report said.One of its provisions says, “In the interest of the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, emergency or public safety or in the event of any violation of any provision of this Act or any other law in force at that time, any officer by notification of the Central Government shall stop any object during the transmission by the post office, They can give the right to open or detain.
