Delhi HC rules in favour of Centre's Telegram ban ahead of NEET-UG exam

The Delhi High Court on Friday (June 19) upheld the Centre’s decision to block access to Telegram for five days ahead of the NEET-UG re-test scheduled for June 21, accepting the government’s contention that the temporary restriction was needed to guard against any possible leak or misuse of the platform during the examination process.

The ruling came a day after the court had reserved its verdict following extensive arguments on the legality and proportionality of the move.

High Court upholds ban

In its judgement, the High Court said the temporary suspension of Telegram could not be considered disproportionate in view of the emergency in which the decision had been made.

Also Read: 'Telegram is the new dark web’: Centre tells Delhi HC amid ban row ahead of NEET re-exam

The court said the government had chosen the least restrictive option available and had complied with the procedure laid down under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act while issuing the blocking orders.

“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 court said.

Court backs Centre's stand

Dismissing objections over the non-disclosure of reasons, the court held that the challenge on that basis was untenable.

It also noted that the reasons backing the blocking orders showed no signs of non-application of mind, and that there was no justification under the IT Act for keeping the platform outside the scope of “information”.

Also Read: Telegram moves Delhi HC against temporary ban ahead of NEET UG re-exam

Telegram argued during the proceedings that it has been continuously engaged with government agencies since May, adding that it had submitted detailed explanations regarding its moderation methods and compliance strategies.

Telegram defends the platform

Elaborating further, the company stated that after the Centre shared specific URLs on June 9, it was taken down within an hour, adding that over 900 such links related to NEET-related content. It further stated that Al, along with machine learning systems and human moderation teams, was pressed into service to detect and remove content found to be in violation of its policy.

Also Read: NTA defends Telegram curbs ahead of NEET UG 2026 re-exam, says 'move to stop fraud'

The company further stated that it has addressed the concerns regarding the messaging platform's structure and ensured compliance with applicable rules.

Appearing for the Telegram, senior advocate Dhruv Mehta questioned the Centre's decision to block the messaging platform, arguing that it showed a lack of application of mind by the concerned authorities in invoking Section 69A, reported India Today.

Background to restriction

The National Testing Agency (NTA) had on May 12 cancelled the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET-UG, held on May 3 for medical admissions amid allegations of paper leak.

The CBI is investigating the matter, and a re-test is scheduled on June 21.

Also Read: NEET UG 2026: NTA extends exam duration, adds more rough-work pages for candidates

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), acting on recommendations of the NTA, had issued a direction on June 16 under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, restricting access to the Telegram platform in India till June 22, covering the day of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-exam and its immediate aftermath.

A separate direction had also asked Telegram to disable in India the message-editing feature for already-posted messages till June 30, 2026, addressing the specific structural feature through which the platform has been used to fabricate after-the-event "paper leak" evidence in respect of national examinations.

(With agency inputs)