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NEW DELHI — The Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved its judgment on a petition filed by instant messaging platform Telegram, which challenged the Central Government’s decision to temporarily suspend its operations in India. The government’s ban, enacted to prevent potential paper leaks ahead of the high-stakes National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2026 re-examination on June 21, faces severe judicial scrutiny regarding its fairness and scope.
During an intense hearing, a vacation bench led by Justice Tejas Karia questioned whether a sweeping, platform-wide ban was a justifiable measure. The court asked the government whether the digital rights of millions could be stripped away to police a specific event.
“How can we stop the rights of 150 million people just because one set of citizens are appearing in examinations? Can you block someone else’s rights to safeguard someone else’s right?”
— Justice Tejas Karia
The Architecture Argument: A “Frankenstein” Platform?
Defending the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeitY) blocking order—issued under Section 69A of the IT Act—the government’s top law officers painted a grim picture of Telegram’s digital architecture.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that Telegram’s system is inherently vulnerable to mass, unchecked exploitation. He noted that unlike other platforms, a single user on Telegram can create up to 40 automated bots to disseminate bulk files instantly with zero human oversight.
Supporting this stance, Attorney General R. Venkataramani took it a step further:
Mass Migrations: The government argued that entire channel populations (up to 100,000 users) can be migrated to entirely new links in seconds, rendering individual channel blocks ineffective.
The “Frankenstein” Label: The Attorney General described the platform’s un-trackable cloud infrastructure as a “Frankenstein” monster that leaves law enforcement completely blind during critical state emergencies.
Timestamp Scams: The Centre highlighted a major loophole from the 2024 controversy where bad actors posted question papers after the exam but backdated the timestamp, creating artificial panic and false proof of “leaks.” Consequently, the government has also ordered Telegram to completely disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30.
Telegram Defends Due Diligence, Alleges Overreach
Representing Telegram, Senior Advocate Dhruv Mehta argued that the emergency shutdown, scheduled to last until June 22, was a textbook case of regulatory overreach.
Telegram maintained that it has consistently acted as a responsible intermediary. The platform stated it has proactively deployed AI and machine learning tools to take down more than 900 illegal NEET-related links and fraudulent groups (such as “Private Mafia” and “PAPER LEAKED NEET”) within an hour of receiving official complaints.
Furthermore, Telegram pointed out that millions of ordinary citizens—including lakhs of students and educators—rely heavily on the application to share legitimate study material, sample papers, and educational content.
What Lies Ahead?
The temporary ban has already seen Telegram pulled from major mobile app stores in India and rendered inaccessible without a Virtual Private Network (VPN). The National Testing Agency (NTA), heavily criticized for the initial exam leaks in May that forced this upcoming re-test, has fully welcomed the block, calling it an “interest of public order.”
With the NEET-UG re-examination for over 22 lakh affected students looming on Sunday, June 21, all eyes are now on the Delhi High Court. Both sides have been directed to file their final written submissions, and the bench is expected to deliver its highly anticipated verdict shortly.
