The Karnataka High Court directed the Central Government on Tuesday to block Switzerland-based Proton Mail services across India, citing serious privacy and security concerns. Justice M Nagaprasanna issued the order while ruling on a petition filed by M Moser Design Associates India Private Limited .
The Bengaluru-based company had approached the court after unknown individuals used Proton Mail to send vulgar, abusive emails containing AI-generated deepfake images of a female employee to other staff members and clients. The court also ordered immediate blocking of the specific offensive URLs mentioned in the petition until the government completes formal proceedings to ban the service nationwide.
"A mandamus is issued to Respondents 2, 4, and 5 to issue proceedings in terms of Section 69A of IT Act 2008 read with rule 10 of the Information Technology Rules, 2009 to block Proton Mail," stated Justice Nagaprasanna in today's order.
The petitioner's counsel, Jatin Sehgal, argued that although a police complaint had been filed in November 2024, effective investigation was impossible as Proton Mail refused to share sender details and had removed its servers from India. Sehgal highlighted that the service allows users to create accounts within 30 seconds without ID verification and even guides users on bypassing Indian monitoring.
Additional Solicitor General Aravind Kamath, representing the Central Government, explained that assistance from Swiss authorities would require activation of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty through court mechanisms.
The petition also referenced recent bomb threats sent to Indian schools via Proton Mail, with Sehgal characterizing the service as "a national threat" due to its high-level encryption and anonymity features.
The Bengaluru-based company had approached the court after unknown individuals used Proton Mail to send vulgar, abusive emails containing AI-generated deepfake images of a female employee to other staff members and clients. The court also ordered immediate blocking of the specific offensive URLs mentioned in the petition until the government completes formal proceedings to ban the service nationwide.
"A mandamus is issued to Respondents 2, 4, and 5 to issue proceedings in terms of Section 69A of IT Act 2008 read with rule 10 of the Information Technology Rules, 2009 to block Proton Mail," stated Justice Nagaprasanna in today's order.
The petitioner's counsel, Jatin Sehgal, argued that although a police complaint had been filed in November 2024, effective investigation was impossible as Proton Mail refused to share sender details and had removed its servers from India. Sehgal highlighted that the service allows users to create accounts within 30 seconds without ID verification and even guides users on bypassing Indian monitoring.
Additional Solicitor General Aravind Kamath, representing the Central Government, explained that assistance from Swiss authorities would require activation of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty through court mechanisms.
The petition also referenced recent bomb threats sent to Indian schools via Proton Mail, with Sehgal characterizing the service as "a national threat" due to its high-level encryption and anonymity features.
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