By Munsif Vengattil and Aditya Kalra
BENGALURU, Nov 11 (Reuters) – India’s government ordered internet providers to block 129 illegal betting websites this year based on two state high court orders that Reuters has found were fake, findings that have triggered at least one police investigation.
The forgeries are the latest sign that fake orders are slipping past India’s official content removal mechanism, considered one of the world’s strictest, and could impact the online presence of any organisation operating in the country.
Court precedents generated using artificial intelligence have caused concerns among judges the world over. India’s Supreme Court in July set aside a tribunal’s orders that relied on non-existent judgments, and a US judge recently disqualified lawyers over use of fabricated legal citations.
India’s Department of Telecommunications issued two website blocking directions on July 21 and September 2 — both available on its website as part of its routine uploads. Both directives came attached with emailed copies of purported court orders from the High Courts of western Rajasthan and northern Uttar Pradesh states ordering the removal of dozens of websites.
A Reuters review found neither court order appears in the courts’ online registration records. After questions from the news agency, the Rajasthan High Court’s registrar said in an email that the order bearing its name “appears to be fraudulent” and did not exist on its server. The court did not elaborate.
In Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabad High Court found its order was fake and filed a police complaint on November 6, prompted by Reuters’ findings, according to police case documents, which also showed an investigation against unknown persons has been initiated for alleged forgery and cheating.
“It is fake. It is not a genuine order from High Court of Allahabad,” Ghanshyam Yadav, a senior state cybercrime official told Reuters by telephone on Tuesday. He said no arrests had been made.
Between them, the two orders affected 129 websites featuring gambling, which is illegal under Indian law. It was not clear how the fake orders were generated and if AI was used.
The government’s telecoms department, which issued the two takedown directives and sent the court orders to internet providers, did not respond to Reuters queries.
Reuters could not ascertain who created the fake orders, which bore blue court seals with India’s national emblem, typical of genuine court orders. Both remained on the ministry’s website as of Wednesday.
‘SEAL OF THIS HON’BLE COURT’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and police have often faced criticism for going too hard against dissent by ordering takedowns of online posts or websites. The government, however, maintains it orders such removals only in the public interest to ensure law and order.
Elon Musk’s X, which has in the past challenged the government’s expanding blocking powers, last week itself got embroiled in fake orders issues. The platform told an Indian court that police directives it sent to two free speech groups warning them about removal of their accounts were found to be fake.
In the case uncovered by Reuters, the telecoms department received an email at 8:59 p.m. (1529 GMT) on Sunday, July 19 containing what appeared to be a Rajasthan Court order, and was signed by “Aryan Chaudhary”, described as an advocate-on-record.
A Reuters query to the email used by Chaudhary bounced back as “Recipient not found”.
The court order, now deemed fake, included an instruction to execute its directions within 24 hours and ended by saying it was issued “under my hand and the seal of this Hon’ble Court registrar”. It was based on a powerful provision of Indian IT law that allows takedowns in the interest of national security.
Two days later, the government told internet service providers to remove 34 betting websites “as specified in the court order as per the enclosed list,” its published communication shows.
‘NO SUCH ORDER PASSED BY HER LADYSHIP’
The other fake court order issued under the name of Allahabad High Court, now under investigation following questions from Reuters, contained the court’s logo and seal, and carried a QR code which typically allows anyone to verify its authenticity.
However, the enclosed QR code led to a random webpage that displayed a one-line case number: “Writ — A 30480/2026”. That same number was cited by an individual who identified himself as advocate Kartikey Pandey and sent that fake Allahabad court order to Indian officials on August 22.
A Reuters query to Pandey’s email cited in the correspondence received no response.
That email led to several back-and-forth exchanges among Indian officials, including one where an “action taken report” was sought, according to the published correspondence on the telecoms ministry’s website. Then, on September 2, an Indian official told internet service providers to “take immediate necessary action in respect of blocking access” to 95 betting websites.
Amid growing concerns of fake orders, India’s Supreme Court justices last year said such fabrication “bearing forged signatures of Judges strikes at the very foundation of public trust” and “such grave criminal acts cannot be treated as ordinary or routine offences”.
The Allahabad High Court’s fake August 14 order was signed under the name of “Justice Garima Prashad”.
The police case registration documents reviewed by Reuters say Prashad’s office has confirmed that “no such order has been passed by Her Ladyship.”
(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil and Aditya Kalra; Editing by Saad Sayeed)
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