Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office summoned the telecommunications secretary, Amit Agrawal, on Saturday to explain how officials ordered the takedown of more than 100 websites based on court orders that Reuters revealed were fake, two government sources said. Agrawal's trip to another state was cut short to attend, the sources said, signalling intensifying scrutiny of the case.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that telecom officials had directed internet providers to block 129 illegal betting websites on the basis of fake High Court orders, which had been emailed to officials by people posing as lawyers. Although online betting is illegal in India, the case has raised concerns that weak safeguards in the country's content-takedown system could allow falsified court documents to be used to block legitimate websites.S2

The two state court orders, which Reuters said contained fabricated court logos and seals as well as a fake QR code, were for months publicly available on the Department of Telecommunications' website, alongside correspondence showing officials ordering internet providers to remove the sites. One criminal investigation by state police against unknown persons for forgery and cheating has already been opened, and police have sought ministry records. On Friday, Reuters reported that the telecoms ministry had started an internal investigation into the alleged fraud.S2

The case comes amid wider concern about fabricated legal material. India's Supreme Court in July set aside a tribunal's orders that relied on non-existent judgments, and a US judge recently disqualified lawyers over fabricated legal citations. Agrawal and the ministry did not respond to Reuters queries, and neither did Modi's office. On Saturday, one of the fake court orders remained accessible on the government's website, while another had been removed.S2