The Delhi High Court has upheld the Centre’s decision to temporarily block Telegram until June 22, rejecting the messaging platform’s petition against the ban ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21.
Justice Tejas Karia has pronounced the order. The temporary blocking order has been issued following recommendations from the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education. As per media reports, the ban has been imposed to prevent the circulation of leaked examination material ahead of the re-examination.
Telegram has argued before the court that it has implemented proactive measures to curb unlawful NEET-related content on its platform. The company has stated that it has removed more than 900 links carrying such content and has deployed artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to detect and address violations.
The Centre has contended that Telegram’s technical and architectural features facilitate the creation and operation of automated accounts or bots capable of disseminating bulk communications without continuous human intervention. During the proceedings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has argued that blocked bots can mirror channels and automatically redirect users to other bots.
During the hearing, the court has orally questioned whether the rights of approximately 150 million users could be restricted because a specific group of citizens, namely NEET aspirants, was appearing for an examination.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has also issued a statement criticising the government’s action, stating that the measure affects more than 150 million ordinary Telegram users in India rather than those responsible for leaking examination materials.
