Uttar Pradesh Police have registered an FIR against unknown persons after the Allahabad High Court found that an order it supposedly issued never existed. The order had been used to get the Union government to block at least 95 websites.
The blocked websites were allegedly streaming fake Indian Premier League (IPL) matches and running betting platforms.
The FIR was registered on November 6 on a complaint from a joint registrar of the High Court. The complaint followed a direction from the Chief Justice on November 3 that a criminal case be registered. The case has been filed under Sections 318(2), 336(2), 336(3), 337, 338 and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which cover cheating and forgery, including forgery of court records.
How the Forgery Came to Light
According to the complaint, the matter surfaced when Reuters technology reporter Munsif Vengattil emailed the High Court on October 30. He wanted the Court to confirm a blocking order he had found on the Department of Telecommunications website.
That blocking order, dated September 2, was based on a High Court order said to have been passed by Justice Garima Prashad. The order was dated August 14, 2026. A lawyer who identified himself as Senior Advocate Kartikey Pandey had sent it to the department.
The High Court told police it could not find the order on its website. An internal inquiry then found that the order did not exist at all. Justice Prashad’s private secretary also confirmed that no such order had been passed. Based on these findings, the High Court administration asked police to register a formal case and investigate the forgery.
In its complaint, the High Court said the facts showed that an unknown person had committed forgery with the intention of cheating and had used the forged documents as genuine. Along with the BNS provisions, the complaint asked for the FIR to include relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and other applicable penal laws.
Similar Fake Order in Rajasthan
Reuters reported in an exclusive story that its email had led to the police case. The news agency also reported that a forged Rajasthan High Court order had led to at least 34 websites being blocked in July.
That order was issued in the name of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand. A person who identified himself as Aryan Chaudhary, an Advocate-on-Record, had sent it to the Department of Telecommunications. The Rajasthan High Court told Reuters that the order bearing its name appeared to be fraudulent and was not on its server.
Together, the two fake High Court orders led to 129 websites being blocked.
