Telegram moves Delhi HC against curbs imposed ahead of Neet UG re-exam
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Messaging platform Telegram has approached the Delhi High Court challenging the Centre's decision to temporarily suspend its operations in India until June 22 in connection with the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate (Neet UG) 2026 re-examination.
The matter was mentioned on an urgent basis before a vacation bench of Justice Tejas Karia by advocate Madhav Khosla. The court agreed to hear the plea later today, according to a report by Bar & Bench. Khosla informed the court that more than 150 million Telegram users in India have been affected by the government's decision to block the platform.
Why is Telegram temporarily blocked in India?
On Tuesday, the government ordered the temporary suspension of Telegram's services across India until June 22, ahead of the Neet UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21. The re-examination is being conducted after allegations of question paper leaks in the original test held on May 3.
The directive was issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, following a request from the National Testing Agency (NTA).
In addition to the temporary suspension, authorities have directed Telegram to disable its message editing feature in India until June 30. According to the NTA, investigators believe the feature was previously misused to create misleading evidence of question paper leaks by editing messages after examination papers had already been circulated.
Google has removed Telegram from the Play Store in compliance with the government's directive, while Apple is expected to delist the application from its App Store in the coming days.
NTA Director General Abhishek Singh said the restrictions were aimed at ensuring that the re-examination is conducted without malpractice. The NTA emphasised that the action was not triggered by any confirmed question paper leak. Instead, authorities said they were responding to a surge in fake messages and scams circulating online, which were causing anxiety among students.
Telegram CEO criticises move
Telegram founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Pavel Durov criticised the government's decision to temporarily block the platform, describing it as a mistake.
In a post on X, Durov said the move punished more than 150 million ordinary users in India rather than those responsible for leaking or circulating examination material. He argued that the restriction would do little to prevent the spread of leaked content and would simply push such activity to other platforms.
Durov said Telegram had removed hundreds of channels in recent weeks that were allegedly sharing leaked examination material and running related scams in India. He added that the company is working to make the "edited" label on messages more prominent to curb backdating scams and prevent manipulation of message timestamps.
"Telegram is a force for good. Banning it, even temporarily, is a mistake," Durov said.
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