Saving for things done under licence
22.—(1)  A licence may with the consent of or in accordance with the terms of a general authority given by the Minister be granted by the Corporation either unconditionally or subject to any condition specified in the licence and either irrevocably or subject to revocation as therein specified for —
(a)the running of such telecommunication system falling within section 20(1) as is specified in the licence; or
(b)the collection of letters for transmission to any place and the reception of letters from such place through the Corporation.
(2)  A licence granted under subsection (1) may be granted either to any person, class of persons or a particular person, and may include (without prejudice to the power to impose conditions conferred by that subsection) conditions requiring the payment to the Corporation of a fee on the grant of the licence or the payment to it of periodic fees during the currency of the licence, or both.
(3)  A payment required by subsection (2) to be rendered to the Corporation may be recovered by it in any court of competent jurisdiction as if it were a simple contract debt.
(4)  No person shall question whether the grant of a licence under subsection (1) was, or was not, effected with the consent of or in accordance with the terms of a general authority given by the Minister, and the validity of a licence granted under that subsection shall not be impugned on the ground that it was granted neither with the consent of nor in accordance with the terms of a general authority given by the Minister.
(5)  Nothing in this section shall prevent the Minister from directing the Corporation to grant a licence in any specific case and any person aggrieved by a refusal of the Corporation to grant a licence may appeal to the Minister within 14 days of the refusal and the Minister’s decision shall be final.
(6)  On the occurrence of any public emergency or in the public interest the Minister may, by order in writing, direct that —
(a)the operation of any telecommunication by a person under a licence granted under this section, or the message so conveyed should be subject to the control of the Government, and may —
(i)prohibit or regulate such use in all cases or of such cases as may be considered necessary;
(ii)provide for the taking of, the control of or the usage for official purposes of, all or any such telecommunication system and apparatus and the payment of compensation for any damage caused thereby; and
(iii)provide for the stopping, delaying and censoring of messages and the carrying out of any other purposes which the Minister thinks necessary,
except that nothing in the order shall apply to the use of any telecommunication for the purpose of making or answering signals of distress; and
(b)any postal article shall be intercepted or detained in the course of transmission by post; and the postal article shall be delivered to any officer mentioned in the order to be dealt with in such manner as the Minister may direct.
(7)  If any doubt arises as to the existence of a public emergency or as to whether any act done under subsection (6)(a) or (b) was in the public interest, a certificate signed by the Minister shall be conclusive evidence of the matters stated therein.
(8)  The grant and renewal of licences under this section shall be at the discretion of the Corporation and the Corporation may at any time cancel any licence without compensation.
(9)  Anything done under and in accordance with a licence granted under subsection (1) shall not constitute an infringement of the privilege conferred by section 20.