In a major cybersecurity lapse, the official website of the Telangana High Court (tshc.gov.in) suffered a hacking incident in which several critical PDF documents were maliciously redirected to an online gambling platform. The breach, discovered earlier this week, has raised serious concerns about the security of digital judicial infrastructure.
According to initial reports, multiple PDFs — including cause lists, case notices, and essential court documents — were tampered with. Users clicking on these files were automatically redirected to a gambling website named BDG SLOT, instead of the intended legal documents.
Officials believe the hacking took place between November 8 and November 10, after which the High Court’s Registrar (IT) filed a formal complaint with the Cybercrime Police. The matter has now been registered under relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, and an investigation is underway to trace the perpetrators.
The Telangana High Court website is hosted on the servers of the National Informatics Centre (NIC), a central agency responsible for maintaining government digital platforms. The incident has triggered alarm, as the website is a crucial resource for lawyers, litigants, and the public who depend on it for daily case updates.
Preliminary findings indicate that only the PDF links were altered — but investigators are not ruling out the possibility of a deeper system compromise. Technical teams are now working to clean the affected sections and restore complete site integrity.
In the interim, officials have advised users to remain cautious while downloading or opening documents from the portal.
The breach has reignited debate over the urgent need for stronger cybersecurity safeguards across India’s judicial and governmental digital systems, especially at a time when cyberattacks targeting public institutions are rapidly increasing.
