Messaging platform Telegram has approached the Delhi High Court challenging the Central Government's decision to temporarily restrict access to the application in India ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21.
The matter was mentioned before Justice Tejas Karia, who agreed to take up the plea on an urgent basis.
Background of the Case
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) recently directed a temporary restriction on Telegram under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The restriction is set to remain in force until June 22.
The government also directed Telegram to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30. According to the National Testing Agency (NTA), the feature had allegedly been used to create misleading claims of examination paper leaks by editing previously posted messages while retaining original timestamps.
The action followed recommendations from the NTA and the Department of Higher Education amid concerns over online examination fraud and misinformation linked to the NEET-UG re-examination.
Appearing for Telegram, counsel informed the Court that the restriction impacts more than 150 million users in India who use the platform for communication, education, and business purposes.
Telegram has questioned the proportionality of the measure, while the government has maintained that the restriction was introduced to protect the integrity of the upcoming examination.
In a public statement, Telegram founder Pavel Durov said,
“This punishes 150M+ ordinary Telegram users in India not the insiders who leaked the exam materials.”
The NTA, on the other hand, stated that the directions were issued “in the interest of public order” and to curb organised attempts to mislead candidates.
Justice Tejas Karia agreed to hear Telegram's challenge to the temporary restriction, and the matter was listed for hearing before the Delhi High Court.
