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The Delhi High Court has approved the Union government’s decision to impose temporary restrictions on Telegram across India before the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination.
The ruling came after the court dismissed a legal challenge brought by the messaging platform.
Justice Tejas Karia observed that the authorities had adhered to the prescribed legal procedure while exercising emergency powers.
The court further held that the government’s actions were proportionate to the objective it sought to achieve.
Under the government’s order, Telegram services will remain restricted until June 22. The platform’s message-editing function will remain suspended until June 30.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued the directions under the provisions of Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The National Testing Agency had recommended the action in view of concerns surrounding the upcoming medical entrance examination.
The Union government argued that Telegram had repeatedly been used for activities linked to examination malpractice. It maintained that emergency intervention became necessary after other options failed to deliver the desired results.
Court filings stated that authorities had previously sought the removal of specific unlawful content from the platform.
Government agencies identified several Telegram channels allegedly involved in distributing purported NEET question papers and related scams.
Officials said the channels, groups and bots under scrutiny collectively reached around 1.46 lakh accounts.
The Centre also referred to inputs from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C). It argued that Telegram’s anonymity features, automated bots and cloud-based system created significant hurdles for law enforcement agencies.
According to the government, targeted content removals proved ineffective because users could create new channels within minutes. It argued that temporary platform-wide restrictions were therefore necessary to safeguard the integrity of the examination process.
The NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination will likely take place on June 21 for more than 22 lakh candidates after allegations of question paper leaks emerged following the original test conducted on May 3.
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