NEW DELHI (The Thursday Times) — India’s Department of Telecommunications ordered internet providers to block 129 websites on the strength of two forged high court orders, and police in Uttar Pradesh have opened a forgery case, according to court and police records.
The first order, dated August 14, bore the name of Justice Garima Prashad of the Allahabad High Court. The department relied on it on September 2 to direct internet service providers to block 95 websites said to be streaming fake Indian Premier League matches and running betting platforms.
The High Court found no such case in its records and no order uploaded on that date, and the judge’s private secretary confirmed that no such order had been passed. On the Chief Justice’s direction, police registered a case against unknown persons on November 6 for cheating and forgery, including forgery of court records.
The fake order carried the court’s logo, its seal, and a QR code, but scanning the code led to an unrelated web page rather than an authenticated court record. It was sent to the department by a person who identified himself as an advocate, Kartikey Pandey, according to the department’s own communication.
A second order, made out in the name of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand of the Rajasthan High Court, was used for a July 21 direction blocking 34 betting websites. The Rajasthan High Court said the order “appears to be fraudulent” and did not exist on its server.
How it came to light
The forgery surfaced after a journalist with an international news agency emailed the Allahabad High Court on October 30, asking whether an order he had found on the department’s website was genuine. The court’s inquiry followed.
It was not immediately clear whether the 129 websites remain blocked, or how the department checks court orders before acting on them.
