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The Delhi High Court on Friday, 19 June, rejected Telegram’s plea challenging the Centre’s temporary ban on the popular messaging app ahead of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) re-examination scheduled for 21 June. The court held that the Centre’s orders to restrict Telegram’s access and disable certain features were “not disproportionate” and were well within its legal authority to protect the sanctity of the medical entrance exam.

A vacation bench headed by Justice Tejas Karia delivered the verdict orally, emphasising the emergency nature of the government’s action. “After considering all the arguments, we find that given the emergency nature, the reasons supplied are sufficient and the government has followed the procedure in Section 69A,” the judge said.

Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 empowers the Centre to block public access to any online information, websites, or applications in the interest of national security, public order, or sovereignty.

The court refuted Telegram’s claim that no reasons were furnished to justify the ban, stating, “Respondent 1 (Centre) was empowered under Section 69A to direct the blocking of access to Telegram. The test of proportionality is satisfied. The government's measures are the least restrictive. It cannot be held that the order is disproportionate.”

The ruling came in response to a petition filed by Telegram challenging the government's decision. The platform argued that it had been unfairly singled out and subjected to discriminatory treatment in violation of constitutional guarantees of equality.

Telegram maintained that it had taken extensive steps to curb the circulation of unlawful content related to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET-UG. The company said it had removed more than 900 links connected to suspected examination-related violations and had deployed artificial intelligence, machine learning tools and human moderators to detect and remove problematic content.

Telegram further asserted it had repeatedly engaged with government agencies from as early as May 2026, submitting detailed compliance reports and swiftly taking down URLs flagged by the authorities within an hour of receipt on 9 June.

During arguments on Thursday, the court raised concerns about the rights of Telegram’s more than 150 million users in India. It asked the Solicitor General, “How can we stop the rights of other users just because one set of citizens is appearing in the exam?” Despite this, the bench found that the temporary restriction was justified in light of the serious threats to exam integrity posed by the circulation of confidential materials through this platform.

The background to the dispute lies in the cancellation of the original NEET-UG 2026 examination held on 3 May by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The decision followed allegations of a widespread paper leak, which compromised the medical admissions test's credibility. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is currently probing the leak.

To prevent a recurrence during the re-exam, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), based on NTA’s recommendations, passed an order on 16 June under Section 69A. It restricted all public access to Telegram in India until 22 June, covering the exam day and its immediate aftermath. Additionally, Telegram was mandated to disable the message-editing feature within the country until 30 June 2026, addressing concerns that this tool was exploited to fabricate evidence related to exam paper leaks after the fact.

This ruling strengthens the government’s stance on leveraging IT laws to secure national examinations against cyber-enabled malpractices, balancing enforcement with constitutional safeguards.

With PTI inputs