Delhi high court upholds Telegram ban ahead of NEET re-test
NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Friday rejected Russian messaging platform Telegram’s plea challenging the Centre’s decision to temporarily block access to the app ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination.Dismissing the petition, Justice Tejas Karia upheld the government’s order issued under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act and granted no relief to Telegram.”The government’s order is well-founded. A platform can be banned under Section 69A of the IT Act,” Justice Karia ruled.The Centre had imposed a temporary restriction on Telegram following recommendations from the National Testing Agency (NTA), citing concerns that the platform could be misused to spread misinformation and facilitate examination-related fraud ahead of the June 21 NEET-UG re-test. The ban will remain in force until June 22.Telegram had moved the high court earlier this week, challenging the decision and arguing against the temporary block on its services in India.During the hearing on Thursday, the court extensively questioned both sides. Justice Karia asked how the rights of nearly 150 million Telegram users could be curtailed because a section of students was appearing for an examination. The court also sought clarification from Telegram on whether it could respond in real time to complaints from authorities regarding the misuse of its platform.Appearing for the Centre, attorney general R Venkatramani defended the government’s decision and raised concerns about Telegram’s architecture.”This platform, because of its unique architecture, I would say, is a Frankenstein,” he told the court.Solicitor general Tushar Mehta argued that Telegram’s features made it particularly vulnerable to misuse by organised cheating networks and fraudsters.He pointed out that a single Telegram user could create up to 40 bots, unlike other platforms where such capabilities were more restricted.”This platform operates through the cloud. Even if they block it and someone does mischief, law enforcement agencies cannot reach the actual user,” Mehta submitted.The Centre also informed the court that Telegram’s message-editing feature would remain disabled in India until June 30 as a precautionary measure, alleging that fraudsters had used it to create false claims of question paper leaks by editing older posts and replacing attached files while retaining original timestamps.The NTA had supported the government’s intervention, saying the directions were issued in the interest of public order and to prevent organised cheating rackets from exploiting the platform during the NEET re-examination process.The move comes against the backdrop of the NEET-UG controversy, which led authorities to cancel the original examination after evidence of a paper leak emerged. A fresh examination has been scheduled for June 21 for affected candidates.According to officials, several Telegram channels had allegedly claimed to offer access to the re-examination paper in exchange for money. Authorities said such channels operated under names including “PAPER LEAKED NEET”, “Re-NEET 2026”, “Private Mafia” and “REE NEET MAFIAA”, charging candidates amounts ranging from a few thousand rupees to several lakh rupees.Officials said the platform-wide restriction was imposed after authorities concluded that removing individual channels was insufficient, as operators quickly created replacement groups, bots and accounts.
