Delhi High Court Backs Government's Telegram Ban Ahead of NEET Re-Examination

The Delhi High Court has confirmed the Indian government's temporary suspension of Telegram services across the country in light of the upcoming NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination. The court ruled that the government acted within legal bounds while invoking emergency powers, emphasizing the necessity of the measures taken to prevent examination-related fraud. Telegram's challenge to the restrictions was dismissed, with the court stating that the actions were proportional and justified. The NEET re-examination is scheduled for June 21, following allegations of question paper leaks during the initial exam. This decision aims to ensure a fair testing environment for over 22 lakh candidates.

By Narendra Chaudhary Jun 19, 2026, 11:38 IST

Court Upholds Temporary Suspension of Telegram Services

New Delhi: On Friday, the Delhi High Court affirmed the Indian government's decision to temporarily halt Telegram's services nationwide in anticipation of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination. The court concluded that the government adhered to the legal procedures when exercising its emergency blocking authority.

A single-judge Bench led by Justice Tejas Karia dismissed Telegram's challenge against the imposed restrictions, stating that the orders met the proportionality test and were warranted given the context of the nationwide medical entrance exam.

The court remarked, "After reviewing all arguments, we determined that the emergency nature of the orders was justified, and the authorities followed the necessary procedures."

Justice Karia further noted, "We found that the requirements for proportionality—such as a legitimate objective, a connection between the action and the adopted measure, and the necessity of the measure—were fulfilled, and the least restrictive measures were implemented."

Telegram had contested the government's decision to suspend its services until June 22 and to disable its message-editing feature until June 30.

These restrictions were enacted following directives from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, based on recommendations from the National Testing Agency (NTA).

The Union government defended its actions, arguing that Telegram's structure and its repeated misuse for examination fraud left them with no choice but to invoke emergency powers.

In an affidavit submitted to the court, the government stated that the decision was made only after all alternatives were exhausted, including multiple requests for the removal of illegal content, which proved insufficient.

The NTA had reportedly identified several Telegram channels allegedly involved in selling NEET question papers and facilitating examination-related scams.

The government claimed that the scrutinized channels, groups, and bots had a collective reach of approximately 146,000 accounts.

Additionally, the Union government referenced reports from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), asserting that Telegram's anonymity features, large subscriber channels, automated bots, and cloud-based architecture posed significant challenges for law enforcement.

The Centre maintained that targeted content removals were ineffective, as channels and bots could be recreated almost instantly, necessitating broad platform-wide restrictions to avert further misuse before the re-examination.

The NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination is set for June 21, with over 2.2 million candidates expected to participate, following allegations of question paper leaks during the original exam held on May 3.