High Court upholds temporary Telegram ban, says government had sufficient reasons
The Delhi High Court on Friday upheld the Central government’s decision to temporarily restrict access to instant messaging platform Telegram ahead of the NEET-UG 2026
The Delhi High Court on Friday upheld the Central government’s decision to temporarily restrict access to instant messaging platform Telegram ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, holding that the measures adopted by the government were proportionate and narrowly tailored to address concerns over examination malpractice. Justice Tejas Karia delivered the verdict, dismissing Telegram’s plea challenging the blocking order issued under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Read Full Story Pronouncing the decision, the Court observed, "The government's measures are the least restrictive. It cannot be held that the order is disproportionate." The government had imposed the temporary restriction citing apprehensions that Telegram was being used by organised cheating networks allegedly involved in the NEET-UG controversy.
The re-examination was scheduled following the cancellation of the original NEET-UG exam conducted on May 3 after allegations of paper leaks and irregularities surfaced. The matter remains under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Acting on recommendations from the Testing Agency (NTA), the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) directed temporary suspension of access to Telegram in India till June 22. In addition, the government instructed the platform to disable the message-editing function for previously posted messages until June 30. Telegram moved the High Court challenging the order, arguing that the government had unfairly targeted the platform while permitting other social media intermediaries to continue operating without similar restrictions.
The company contended that the action violated Article 14 of the Constitution and lacked proportionality. During the proceedings, Telegram maintained that it had been actively engaging with government agencies since May and had submitted detailed explanations regarding its moderation practices and compliance efforts. According to the company, once authorities shared specific URLs on June 9, the content was removed within an hour. Telegram further stated that it had taken down more than 900 links associated with unlawful NEET-related content and had deployed artificial intelligence, machine learning systems and human moderation teams to detect and remove policy violations. The messaging aggregator also submitted that it had responded to concerns relating to the platform’s structure and remained compliant with applicable rules.
The BriefWire