A two-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court is now hearing a challenge filed by Proton AG, the Swiss company that runs the encrypted email service, Proton Mail. On April 29, a single judge of the high court had directed the Union government to block the service in India, setting off a wave of criticism from digital rights advocates. https://scroll.in/article/1084862/why-a-court-ban-on-encrypted-email-service-proton-mail-has-sparked-digital-privacy-fears
Many of them told Scroll that the court’s ban set a dangerous precedent that threatens the privacy of whistle-blowers, activists, journalists, and others who rely on encryption for more secure communications.
The case began when a Bengaluru-based organisation approached the High Court after some of its female employees were subjected to prolonged online harassment. The company received a torrent of emails from two Proton Mail accounts containing obscene and abusive content, including morphed images of the employees.
The company filed a police complaint and reached out to Proton Mail’s abuse team. While Proton disabled the offending accounts, it could not provide the company personally identifiable details of the sender of the mail.
Justice M Nagaprasanna took a stern view of the matter in his judgment. Describing the situation as a “menace”, he noted that Proton Mail had also been used to send bomb threats to schools and even to the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
Concluding that the court could not remain a “mute spectator”, the judge directed the Union government to initiate proceedings to block Proton Mail in India under the Information Technology Act.
by Vineet Bhalla
28/07/2025