Two Fake High Court Orders, 129 Websites Blocked: UP Police Registers FIR

The Uttar Pradesh Police has registered an FIR against unidentified persons following a complaint by the Allahabad High Court administration on November 6, alleging that they forged a high court order and used it to get multiple betting websites blocked. The complaint was filed following an internal verification by the high court administration that found no record of the said order.

The case came to light after a Reuters investigation found that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had issued website-blocking directions on the basis of two purported high court orders, one attributed to the Allahabad High Court and the other to the Rajasthan High Court, which could not be traced in the respective courts' records.

According to the FIR, the forged Allahabad High Court order was dated August 14, 2026, and purportedly passed by Justice Garima Prashad in Writ Petition No. 30480 of 2026. It directed the blocking of 95 websites allegedly associated with betting and gambling activities.

The document was subsequently forwarded to the DoT by a man named Advocate Kartikey Pandey. Acting on the communication, the department issued a direction on September 2, asking internet service providers to block access to the 95 websites.

However, the Allahabad High Court administration could not locate either the purported writ petition or the order in its records. The private secretary to Justice Prashad also confirmed that no such order had been passed by the judge, as per the news agency's report.

The issue surfaced after the news agency sought verification of the document's authenticity, having found it uploaded on the DoT's official website. Following the query, the high court administration undertook an internal verification. 

The case has been registered under Sections 318(2), 336(2), 336(3), 337, 338 and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act.

Police have initiated an investigation against unknown persons. No arrests had been made by November 11.

Fake Rajasthan High Court order also used for website blocking

A separate purported judicial order attributed to the Rajasthan High Court was also used by the DoT to block 34 betting websites in July.

The department issued the first blocking direction on July 21, two days after receiving an email enclosing the purported court order. The document was allegedly sent by a man named Aryan Chaudhary, an advocate-on-record.

However, the Rajasthan High Court registrar said that the order appeared to be fraudulent and was not available on the court's server.

Together, the two fake orders resulted in government directions to block 129 websites.

Both documents carried court seals and the national emblem. The alleged Allahabad High Court order also contained a QR code, ostensibly intended to facilitate verification. However, scanning the code reportedly led to an unrelated webpage displaying the purported case number.

The DoT had uploaded the blocking directions and accompanying documents on its official website.