On Tuesday, July 1, 2025, the Karnataka High Court issued a notice in response to an appeal filed by Proton AG, a Swiss-based secure email service provider, against a single-judge order directing the blocking of Proton Mail’s services in India.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice V. Kameswara Rao and Justice C.M. Joshi issued notices to the Central government, the Karnataka state government and M Moser Design Associates (India) Pvt Ltd, which was the original petitioner seeking the service ban.
“Until such action is taken and decided by the Union of India, the offending URLs shall be blocked forthwith,”- Single Judge, Karnataka High Court
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The blocking order was initially passed following allegations that Proton Mail was used to send multiple bomb threats to schools in India. The court directed the Centre to proceed under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act as well as Rule 10 of the IT (Procedure for Blocking of Information and Protection) Rules.
Advocate Manu Kulkarni, appearing for Proton Mail, argued that the company has shown full cooperation and had already blocked the email IDs involved in the threats once notified. However, he argued that the court notice was not properly served on the company and no opportunity of being heard was given before the blocking order was passed.
“I was not served notice as per law. The finding recorded in the order about notice being served was incorrect,” – Proton Mail advocate Manu Kulkarni
When asked by the court about the notice being served, Kulkarni clarified:
“I was informed about the petition through email. I was not served notice through the court process.”
Meanwhile, Additional Solicitor General Arvind Kamath submitted that M Moser Design Associates had raised concerns over objectionable emails and morphed photographs of its women employees being circulated through Proton Mail. Kamath said:
“Our stand before the learned single judge was that if any complaint is received by the nodal officer or by the court order, we will take action. As of now, the email service is not blocked. We are proceeding as per the earlier court order.”
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Kulkarni requested the bench to restrain the Centre from taking any final decision till the hearing is over. He cautioned that if the Centre passes any order under Section 69A, the service could be blocked at any time, affecting all Proton Mail users in India.
The court, however, decided to hear the case on Thursday, July 3, and in the meantime allowed Proton to send notices to all concerned parties.
The original petitioner, M Moser Design Associates, had earlier filed a complaint with the police, alleging criminal misuse of Proton Mail through which abusive and offensive emails were repeatedly sent to their senior women employees. The company also urged the court to direct the police to obtain information about the sender of the emails in a time-bound manner through the India-Switzerland Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT).
Appearance: Advocate Manu Kulkarni for Appellant.
ASG Aravind Kamath for R3.
Case Title: ProtonAG And M MOSER DESIGN ASSOCIATES (INDIA) PVT LTD & Others
Case No: WA 995/2025
