India blocked 129 betting sites on two fake court orders, Reuters finds
The Allahabad High Court filed a police complaint on 6 November after finding its blocking order was fake.
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India’s telecoms department ordered internet providers to block 129 betting websites on the basis of two fake court orders, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The orders carried the names of the Rajasthan and Allahabad High Courts. Reuters found both were fake, and police have opened an investigation into one of them.
What the fake court orders said
The first direction followed an email that arrived on 19 July with what looked like a Rajasthan High Court order. Two days later, the government told internet service providers to remove 34 sites “as specified in the court order”, the published communication shows, per Reuters.
The second direction came on 2 September. An Indian official told providers to “take immediate necessary action in respect of blocking access” to 95 sites. The attached order was dated 14 August and signed under the name of Justice Garima Prashad. It carried the court’s logo, a seal and a QR code that is meant to let anyone verify an order.
Key numbers
- 129 websites in total were covered by the two orders, per Reuters.
- 34 sites were named in the 21 July direction on the Rajasthan order, per Reuters.
- 95 sites were named in the 2 September direction on the Allahabad order, per Reuters.
- 6 November: the date the Allahabad court filed its complaint, per Reuters via Yahoo.
Police complaint and what officials said
The Allahabad court found its order was fake and filed a police complaint on 6 November, prompted by Reuters’ findings, according to police case documents. They show an investigation against unknown persons for alleged forgery and cheating. The documents say Prashad’s office confirmed that “no such order has been passed by Her Ladyship.”
Ghanshyam Yadav, a senior state cybercrime official, told Reuters by telephone on Tuesday: “It is not a genuine order from High Court of Allahabad.” He said no arrests had been made. In Rajasthan, the court’s registrar said in an email that the order bearing its name “appears to be fraudulent” and did not exist on its server.
Department of Telecommunications response
The telecoms department, which issued both directions, did not respond to Reuters queries. The government maintains it orders such removals only in the public interest to ensure law and order. Both directions remained on the ministry’s website as of Wednesday.
The row comes as India’s government is also pushing back on false online claims, as our report on the Dhaka and Delhi claim noted. Courts face their own pressures too, as our report on the Madras High Court’s pending corruption cases showed.
What happens next after the fake court orders
The police investigation in Uttar Pradesh is the only step reported so far. Reuters said it could not determine who created the documents. The reports do not say whether the telecoms department will review or withdraw the 129 blocks.
Blocking directions that rest on forged court orders raise questions about how the government checks the papers it acts on. Police have opened a forgery case against unknown persons, and the telecoms department has not answered Reuters, so the next official response is the thing to watch.