Karnataka HC directs Centre to ban encrypted email service ‘Proton Mail'
The court's direction came on a petition filed by a Bengaluru based firm, M Moser Design, seeking a direction to the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to ban proton mail after its employees and clients received several emails through Proton Mail IDs with morphed pictures, AI generated deepfake images, and sexually explicit content.
Before reserving its orders on Moser Design's petition, justice Nagaprasanna had gone through some of such emails received by the firm and remarked that the content was akin to 'porn' and said since the issue was a serious one, the centre must be directed to take appropriate steps.
At the time, the court had also asked the Union government why it cannot block all such instant messaging services and Virtual Private Networks (VPN)that do not have physical servers in India and are not amenable to Indian laws.
The petitioner firm also told the court that in the past, Proton mail had been used to send bomb threats to some schools in India. It said that while the local police was already investigating into the matter, it was yet to identify the accused since, Proton had refused to give details of the sender of such emails.
The petitioner firm's counsel, Jatin Sehgal told the court that on its website, Proton mail even guided users on how to bypass monitoring by authorities in India and that it declared that it had removed physical VPNs from India in 2022 after the union government made it mandatory for VPN providers with servers in India to store user data.
Additional Solicitor General of India, Aravind Kamath, who appeared for the Centre, however, said at the time that while India has a 'mutual legal assistance treaty' with Switzerland, since a criminal investigation into the petitioner firm's police complaint was already on, the investigating officer will now have to follow provisions of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita and request the magistrate court to issue a 'Letter Rogatory,' which is a formal, written request to a court in another country to seek judicial assistance.
Kamath however, added that if the high court issued specific directions for blocking, the government will comply. The court then said it was inclined to exercise its jurisdiction under Article 482 of the CrPC and pass orders.
A detailed order of the High court is awaited.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
25 minutes ago
- India.com
Foreign Secy Vikram Misri Meets Nepal PM Oli, Discusses Bilateral Cooperation
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri called on Nepal's Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Sunday and discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral cooperation across various sectors. The Indian Embassy in Nepal, in a post on X, said: "Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri called on the Rt. Hon'ble Prime Minister of Nepal, Mr. K.P. Sharma Oli. FS reaffirmed the deep civilizational ties and strong India-Nepal partnership, and discussed ways to further strengthen cooperation across various sectors." Misri also called on Nepal's President Ramchandra Paudel and conveyed greetings from the Indian leadership. During the meeting, he briefed the President on the progress in bilateral ties. "Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri called on the Rt. Hon'ble President of Nepal Mr. Ramchandra Paudel and conveyed greetings of the Indian leadership, apart from briefing Hon'ble President on the progress in bilateral ties," Indian Embassy in Nepal posted on X. The Foreign Secretary also called on Nepal's Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba. During the meeting, both sides discussed ways to further enhance the multifaceted partnership between two nations across all sectors. "Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri called on on the Hon'ble Foreign Minister of Nepal Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba There was a substantial exchange of views on issues of mutual interest and ways to further enhance the multifaceted India-Nepal partnership, across all sectors", the mission posted on X. Earlier in the day, Misri arrived in Kathmandu for a two-day official visit at the invitation of his Nepal counterpart Amrit Bahadur Rai. Announcing his arrival, the Indian Embassy said: "Foreign Secretary of India Vikram Misri arrives in Kathmandu for an official visit, which reflects the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between India and Nepal, and reaffirms the commitment to the Neighbourhood First policy." In a statement issued on Friday ahead of Misri's visit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said: "India and Nepal share strong and friendly ties, which have seen concrete progress in recent years in diverse areas of cooperation. India attaches high priority to its relations with Nepal under its Neighbourhood First policy. Foreign Secretary's upcoming visit continues the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries and will be an opportunity to further advance our bilateral ties." According to Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during the visit, the two Foreign Secretaries will hold discussions on various aspects of the Nepal-India partnership, with a focus on connectivity, development cooperation, and other matters of mutual interest. Foreign Secretary Misri was also scheduled to call on other high-level dignitaries in Kathmandu.
The Hindu
25 minutes ago
- The Hindu
BJP leaders to be questioned regarding Suresh Gopi's suspected leopard tooth pendant
At least two BJP leaders, who were seen accompanying Union Minister Suresh Gopi at Thrissur on the day he wore a chain with a pendant made of a suspected leopard tooth, will be summoned for interrogation. The Pattikkad Range Forest Officer is likely to issue notices to the party leaders to record their statements this week on a complaint filed by a Congress worker A.A. Mohamed Hashim. Mr. Hashim had complained that the act of wearing a leopard tooth, a wildlife trophy, was an offence punishable under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The Forest department had recorded the statements of Mr. Hashim in this regard last month. Mr. Hashim, who shared the news video clips of Mr. Gopi walking along the Swaraj Round wearing the suspected wildlife trophy, had identified one of the accompanying persons as K.K. Aneeshkumar, the Thrissur district president of BJP. Though unable to name the other one, the complainant had said he was an identifiable person. In Kannur too He had indicated that the Minister was seen wearing the ornament made out of suspected leopard tooth at a public function in Kannur too. Mr. Hashim, while giving his statement to the department, wanted the suspected ornament to be seized and its period of manufacture ascertained. Information will be sought from the persons who were seen walking along with Mr. Gopi, on whether they had any idea that he was wearing the ornament made of a wildlife trophy. The possible existence of videos or pictures that would give clues on the material constituting the ornament will be explored, since the videos shared by the complainant are insufficient to prove the allegations, sources said. The investigating officer will decide on questioning Mr. Gopi after looking into the statements of the witnesses and the evidence, they said. Meanwhile, the Pattikkad Range Forest officer recently booked a wildlife crime against a person arrested by the Thrissur police for allegedly possessing suspected narcotic substances the other day. A suspected leopard tooth, ivory and a few strands of elephant tail hair were also recovered from the accused. The suspected wildlife trophies would be sent for analysis to ascertain their genuineness. If confirmed, the accused would be prosecuted under the Wildlife Protection Act, sources said.
NDTV
41 minutes ago
- NDTV
10 Facts About CP Radhakrishnan, BJP's Pick For Vice President
Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan is BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA)'s candidate for the Vice President polls, announced Union Minister JP Nadda at a press conference Sunday evening. "We want the next vice president to be elected unanimously. We have reached out to opposition leaders," said Mr Nadda, who is also the BJP chief. Here are 10 facts about CP Radhakrishnan: * Mr Radhakrishnan, who was born in Tamil Nadu, has been serving as the Governor of Maharashtra since July last year. * The 68-year-old previously served as the Governor of Jharkhand from February 2023 to July 2024. He also held additional charge as the Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry between March and July 2024. * Within the first four months of being appointed the Jharkhand Governor in 2023, Mr Radhakrishnan travelled to all the 24 districts of the state and interacted with citizens and district officials. * A veteran BJP leader, Mr Radhakrishnan was elected to the Lok Sabha from Coimbatore twice and previously served as the Tamil Nadu BJP State President. * In his role as the Tamil Nadu BJP chief, between 2004 and 2007, he undertook a 19,000 km 'Ratha Yatra' that lasted for 93 days. The Yatra was organised to highlight his demands for the linking of all Indian rivers, eradicating terrorism, implementing a uniform civil code, removing untouchability and combating the menace of narcotic drugs. He also led two more Padayatras for different causes. * With more than four decades of experience, Mr Radhakrishnan is a respected name in the polity and public life of Tamil Nadu. * Born in 1957 in Tamil Nadu's Tiruppur, he completed his studies from Chidambaram College in Coimbatore with a degree in BBA. * A keen sportsperson, Mr Radhakrishnan was a college champion in table tennis and a long-distance runner. He also enjoyed cricket and volleyball. * The Vice Presidential post fell vacant after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned on the first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament on July 21, citing health reasons. * The Election Commission had earlier announced that polling for the Vice Presidential election will take place on September 9, with counting of votes scheduled for the same day.
