Bengaluru: The high court Tuesday directed the central govt to initiate proceedings in terms of Section 69A of the Information Technology Act-2000, read with Rule 10 of the Information Technology Procedure and Safeguards of Blocking of Access to Information by Public Access Rules-2009, to block Proton Mail in India.
“Till such proceedings are taken up and concluded by the govt of India, the offending Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) that are indicated in the petitions shall be blocked forthwith,” Justice M Nagaprasanna observed, while allowing the petition filed by M Moser Design Associates India Pvt Ltd.

The petitioner sought a direction to the central govt to prohibit Proton Mail usage in India. The petitioner claimed that its servers operate outside India while claiming immunity from Indian legislation. The court was also told about the misuse of Proton Mail wherein senior female staff of the petitioner company were targeted with inappropriate content, including AI-generated images and the same was distributed to employees and business contacts of the petitioner, causing significant harm.
Despite an FIR registered on Nov 9, 2024, inadequate police investigation prompted the company to seek magistrate intervention. Police reports revealed insufficient progress and unused Indo-Swiss legal assistance channels, the high court was told. Users can select Indian server locations, creating an illusion of domestic access. The service has been linked to school bomb threats in India. Countries like Russia and Saudi Arabia have banned Proton Mail, identifying it as a security risk, the petitioner stated.
The govt submitted that there is an existing mutual assistance agreement between India and Switzerland, and the criminal courts can issue letters rogatory for information requests. The petitioner company prayed that the high court issue a direction to police to gather sender information through Indo-Swiss mutual assistance frameworks within specific timeframe. In addition, a direction was also sought for immediate police action to obtain letters rogatory through the magistrate to Switzerland’s Federal Office of Justice for comprehensive information about the email sender.