The Secretary to Govl. of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi.

In the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 (2 of 1899) (hereinafter referred to as "the principal Act"), in section 2: (i) clause (1) shall be re-numbered as clause (1A) and before the clause (1A) as so re-numbered, the following clause shall be inserted, namely:- '(1) "association" means any association of persons, exchange brokers, or any other organization or body of persons, whether incorporated or not, and regulating or controlling or conducting business of sale or purchase of, or other transaction relating to, any goods or marketable securities traded through an association or otherwise.'; (ii) in clause (12), the following Explanation shall be added at the end, namely:- "Explanation.- The term "signed" and "signature" also included attribution of electronic record as per section 11 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000)."; (iii) in clause (14), the following Explanation shall be added at the end, namely:- "Explanation.- The terms "document" also includes any electronic record as defined in clause (t) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000)."; and (iv) after clause (26), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:- "(27) "stock exchange" means any body of individuals, whether incorporated or not, constituted for the purpose of assisting, regulating or controlling the business of buying, selling or dealing in securities.".