India's government ordered internet providers to block 129 illegal betting websites this year based on two state high court orders that were fake, a Reuters investigation published on Wednesday has found. The findings have triggered at least one police investigation.

Source: Reuters

The Department of Telecommunications issued the two blocking directions on July 21 and September 2, and both were uploaded on its website as part of its routine publications. Each directive came attached with an emailed copy of a purported court order — one from the Rajasthan High Court and one from the Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh — ordering the removal of dozens of websites.

Neither order exists in court records

A Reuters review found that neither order appears in the courts' online registration records. The registrar of the Rajasthan High Court told the news agency by email that the document bearing the court's name appeared to be fraudulent and did not exist on its server. The Rajasthan document had reached the department in an email sent at 8:59 pm on Sunday, July 19, and two days later the government told internet service providers to remove 34 betting websites "as specified in the court order."

The second order, dated August 14 and signed in the name of "Justice Garima Prashad" of the Allahabad High Court, carried the court's logo and seal and even a QR code of the kind normally used to verify authenticity, under the case number "Writ — A 30480/2026". On September 2, providers were told to block 95 more betting websites on its strength.

Court files police complaint

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 reviewed by the agency. The documents show an investigation against unknown persons has been initiated for alleged forgery and cheating, and the judge's office has confirmed that "no such order has been passed by Her Ladyship."

"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.

Reuters said it could not ascertain who created the fake orders, which bore blue court seals with India's national emblem, typical of genuine court orders. The telecom department, which issued the two takedown directives and sent the court orders to internet providers, did not respond to Reuters' queries, and both orders were still on its website as of Wednesday. It remains unclear whether the 129 blocked sites will be unblocked.

The forgeries are the latest sign, Reuters reported, that fake orders are slipping past India's official content removal mechanism — considered one of the world's strictest — a gap that could affect the online presence of any organisation operating in the country. (Sources: Reuters investigation, November 11; Allahabad High Court police complaint and Uttar Pradesh cybercrime officials, as reported by Reuters.)