NEW DELHI: PM Modi‘s office on Saturday summoned telecommunications secretary Amit Agrawal, seeking an explanation over how more than 100 websites were blocked on the basis of fake court orders, two government officials said.The summons came after a Reuters report on Wednesday revealed that telecom officials had directed internet providers to block 129 illegal betting websites using fabricated High Court orders. The documents had been emailed to officials by individuals posing as lawyers.PM Modi’s office has sought an explanation from Agrawal over the lapse, with the summons also cutting short the telecom secretary’s visit to another state, the two officials familiar with the matter said.The development marks increased scrutiny of the episode, which has raised questions about the safeguards in India’s website-blocking system. While online betting is illegal in the country, the use of forged court documents to initiate takedown orders has raised concerns that legitimate websites could also be targeted.Agrawal is the senior-most bureaucrat in the telecommunications ministry, which oversees major telecom operators and internet service providers.“The action taken by the Department of Telecommunications against betting accounts was carried out through the relevant field officers,” one of the officials said.The controversy has also led to a criminal investigation by state police into suspected forgery and cheating by unidentified individuals. On Friday, Reuters reported that the telecommunications ministry had started an internal investigation into the alleged fraud. Police have also sought records from the ministry as part of their probe.The two state court orders identified as fake by Reuters, based on comments from police and the court registry, carried fabricated court logos and seals, along with a fake QR code.Both documents had remained available on the Department of Telecommunications’ website for months. They were published alongside correspondence showing officials directing internet providers to take down the websites.As of Saturday, one of the fake orders was still accessible on the government website, while the other had been removed.
Fake legal documents under scrutiny
The episode comes amid wider concerns among judges across the world over fabricated legal precedents, including those generated using artificial intelligence.
Share your thoughts in the comments
Be respectful · TOI community guidelines
In July, India’s Supreme Court set aside a tribunal’s orders that relied on non-existent judgments. A US judge recently disqualified lawyers over the use of fabricated legal citations.Last year, India’s Supreme Court justices also warned against the fabrication of judicial documents, saying such acts “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”.
