An adjudicating officer under the Information Technology Act, 2000 has:
1. jurisdiction to adjudicate matters involving a claim for damage not exceeding five crore
2. been treated as a Civil Court
3. to keep in mind the bonafides of the offender
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Correct option is B

The correct answer is (b) 1 and 2.

Explanation

The powers and scope of an Adjudicating Officer (AO) are defined under Chapter IX of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

• Statement 1 is correct: According to Section 46(1A) (inserted by the 2008 Amendment), an Adjudicating Officer has the pecuniary jurisdiction to adjudicate matters where the claim for injury or damage does not exceed five crore rupees. If the claim exceeds this amount, the jurisdiction vests with the competent civil court.
• Statement 2 is correct: Under Section 46(5), every Adjudicating Officer is vested with certain powers of a Civil Court. These include summoning and enforcing the attendance of persons, requiring the discovery and production of documents/electronic records, and receiving evidence on affidavits. Furthermore, for the purposes of execution of orders, the AO is treated as a Civil Court.
• Statement 3 is incorrect: When determining the quantum of compensation, Section 47 explicitly lists only three factors:
1. The amount of gain of unfair advantage (quantifiable).
2. The amount of loss caused to any person.
3. The repetitive nature of the default. The "bonafides" (good intentions) of the offender is not a statutory factor listed under Section 47. In fact, for many contraventions under Section 43 (like unauthorized access or downloading), the liability is strict—once the act is proven to be done "without permission," the compensation is adjudged based on loss/gain rather than the offender's intent.