Delhi HC raises questions again about Proton Mail use in India; directs MHA, police to examine
The Delhi High Court was dealing with a habeas corpus plea in which the woman in question was found to be corresponding with her father over Proton Mail, which the police claimed is banned in India.
The Delhi High Court on October 23 again asked the Delhi Police and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to look into the alleged use of email address/service “proton.me” or “Proton Mail” in India.
The end-to-end encrypted email service, headquartered in Switzerland as Proton AG, has zero-access encryption which means not even Proton can view the content of an individual’s email, it claims. While the government mulled blocking Proton Mail in February this year in response to a spate of hoax bomb threats in India, the service issued a statement in March clarifying that it was still available in India.
The hoax threats included bomb threats issued to various schools in Chennai which were sent through Proton Mail but the police had failed to obtain details of the senders from the company. Swiss federal authorities then corresponded with Indian authorities, according to a statement by Proton Mail in March.
The bench of Justices Prathiba Singh and Amit Sharma was dealing with a habeas corpus petition seeking the production of the petitioner’s wife and their two minor children when the woman was found to be corresponding with her father over Proton Mail, which the police claimed is banned in India.
The investigating officer had claimed before the court on October 15 that “the email address/service “proton.me”/ “Proton Mail” provided by Proton AG, Switzerland being used by Mrs S (wife of the petitioner) is banned in India. The said platform was allegedly being used for various unlawful activities, due to which it is stated to have been banned by the government. On being queried, Mrs S has informed the Court that she learned about the said email address/service through Google platform. This aspect would also need to be investigated as to how the said email address/service is still being made available for users in India given the same is banned.”
The court further directed on October 15 that the “IO shall also inform the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and Department of Telecommunication (DoT) of the availability in India of the said email address/ service i.e., ‘proton.me’/ “Proton Mail”, so that the said aspect can be looked into by the concerned authorities.”
On October 23, disposing of the habeas corpus plea after all the parties whose production was sought were presented before the court, the bench reiterated its earlier direction and said, “The Delhi Police/MHA shall also look into the email address/service used by Mrs S i.e., ‘proton.me’/ “Proton Mail” which is allegedly provided by Proton AG, Switzerland as the same is stated to have been banned.”
