New Delhi: Backing the Centre’s argument that extraordinary measures were necessary to curb the spread of fake NEET UG 2026 re-examination papers and exam-related fraud ahead of the June 21 re-test, the Delhi High Court, on Friday, upheld the Centre’s decision to temporarily restrict access to Telegram until June 22,
“The government order on emergency ban does not suffer from non-application of mind,” the High Court said, dismissing the petition filed by Telegram. “Government’s order is well founded. A platform can be banned under Section 69A of the IT Act,” Justice Tejas Karia observed, noting there are “sufficient” reasons to temporarily ban the app ahead of the re-tests, as reported by The Economic Times.
After a lengthy hearing on Thursday, the High Court had reserved its verdict on the matter. During the hearing, the Court had questioned the Centre’s decision to temporarily restrict access to the Pavel Durov-owned app ahead of the major all-India re-examination.
Whether the rights of millions of users could be curtailed to safeguard the interests of a smaller group of examinees, the Court had wanted to know.
While hearing the petition filed by the Dubai-based company, challenging the temporary restriction until June 22, Justice Karia observed that the government would need to justify why a platform used by nearly 150 million people in India should face a blanket curtailment.
“The question is, can you block somebody else’s rights to protect someone else’s rights?” the judge had remarked, while reserving the order and asking both sides to suggest alternatives that could tackle concerns over paper leaks and misinformation without imposing broad restrictions.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had defended the government’s move, arguing that Telegram’s architecture poses unique challenges for law enforcement.
The platform’s bot ecosystem allows rapid creation of multiple channels, making it difficult to curb the spread of leaked material or misinformation effectively, he told the Court.
A single Telegram account can create up to 40 bots, unlike other messaging platforms that impose stricter limitations. Even if one bot or channel is removed, several others can quickly emerge under different identities, Mehta submitted.
He also argued that Telegram’s cloud-based structure makes it difficult for investigating agencies to trace individuals involved in unlawful activities. “Even if we block content and someone commits mischief, the law enforcement agency cannot easily reach that person,” the SG told the Court.
The government does not face similar challenges with other major messaging platforms and maintained that the temporary restrictions were imposed under emergency powers in view of the exceptional circumstances surrounding the examination, Mehta added.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) said the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) acted on its recommendations and issued directions under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act to restrict access to Telegram for a limited period covering the examination and its immediate aftermath.
Telegram has also been asked by the ministry has to disable its message-editing feature in India for already posted content until June 30.
The feature had been misused in previous examinations to create fabricated evidence of paper leaks by editing older messages after exams had concluded, the NTA said.
Cheating rackets had been using Telegram channels, groups and bots to spread misinformation and lure candidates with false promises of access to leaked question papers, the agency added.
The NTA further identified several channels carrying names such as “Re-NEET 2026”, “Private Mafia” and “REE NEET MAFIAA”, which allegedly demanded money from students and parents in exchange for fake exam papers.
No examination paper was available outside the secured system and warned candidates against falling prey to such fraudulent claims, the agency maintained. It added that the temporary restrictions were imposed only after coordinated takedowns of channels and accounts failed to adequately contain the spread of misinformation.
