Delhi High Court Issues Notice On Telegram's Plea Against Temporary Ban Ahead Of NEET-UG Re-Exam
Delhi High Court reserved judgment on Telegram's challenge to the Centre's temporary ban imposed over alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak concerns
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Centre on a plea filed by messaging platform Telegram challenging the government's decision to temporarily restrict access to the app ahead of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21.
A vacation bench of Justice Tejas Karia adjourned the matter to Thursday (June 18) after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, sought time to place additional material on record and indicated that the government had information concerning the alleged misuse of the platform.
"If the court posts the matter tomorrow, then there is something shocking I can show. One channel starts, it is prohibited, and then another is started. And with a QR code, you can make a payment. This is continuous," Mehta submitted before the Court.
The Solicitor General further said that the issue had not arisen overnight and that the government had been dealing with complaints since May. "This has not happened overnight. We have been dealing with complaints since May. I don't wish to go beyond this. This platform is being misused, and imagine the situation which may arise," he added.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate Dhruv Mehta appeared for Telegram. Mehta, challenging the restrictions, argued that the Centre's action was illegal and claimed that more than 150 million users had been affected since access to the platform was restricted on Tuesday.
The Centre's action followed directions issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, on the recommendations of the National Testing Agency (NTA).
According to the NTA, access to Telegram has been temporarily restricted in India until June 22, covering the June 21 NEET-UG 2026 re-examination and its immediate aftermath. In a separate direction, Telegram has also been required to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30, 2026.
The NTA stated that the message-editing feature had been exploited to create fabricated "after-the-event" evidence of question paper leaks relating to national examinations. The examination agency said both measures were adopted "in the interest of public order" and in response to the organised use of the platform by cheating rackets seeking to defraud candidates appearing for the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination.
Defending the government's action, the Centre told the High Court that Telegram was being systematically misused by organised networks and sought an adjournment to place further material before the Court.
The High Court has now sought the Centre's response and will continue hearing the matter on Thursday, i.e. June 18 at 2:30 pm.
Case Title: Telegram FZ LLV & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors.
Bench: Justice Tejas Karia
Hearing Date: June 17, 2026