The Delhi High Court on Friday, 19 June 2025, upheld the Centre's decision to temporarily suspend Telegram's services across India ahead of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination, ruling that the government had strictly followed prescribed legal procedure while invoking emergency blocking powers under the Information Technology Act, 2000.

A single-judge Bench of Justice Tejas Karia rejected a petition filed by Telegram challenging the restrictions, holding that the orders satisfied the test of proportionality and were justified given the circumstances surrounding the nationwide medical entrance examination.

What the Court Ruled

'After considering all arguments, we found that given the emergency nature of impugned orders, respondents (authorities) strictly followed the procedure,' the Delhi High Court stated in its order rejecting the petition.

'We have also held that the test of proportionality is satisfied as requirements, namely legitimate objective, nexus of action with the measure adopted, necessity of the measure are met and least restrictive measures have been adopted,' Justice Karia added.

Scope of the Restrictions

Telegram had challenged the Centre's move to suspend its services across India until 22 June and to disable its message-editing feature until 30 June. The restrictions were imposed pursuant to directions issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000, following recommendations by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Why the Government Acted

The Union government defended the move in an affidavit before the court, contending that Telegram's architecture and repeated misuse for examination-related fraud left authorities with 'no other option' but to invoke emergency blocking powers. The Centre stated the decision was taken only after 'exhausting alternatives', including repeated requests for targeted takedowns of unlawful content, which proved inadequate.

According to the government, the NTA had identified several Telegram channels allegedly involved in selling purported NEET question papers and examination-related scams. The channels, groups, and bots under scrutiny had a combined reach of nearly 1.46 lakh accounts, the Centre claimed.

The government also relied on reports from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), arguing that Telegram's anonymity features, large subscriber channels, automated bots, forwarding mechanisms, and cloud-based architecture posed significant challenges for law enforcement. Content-specific takedowns were deemed ineffective because channels and bots could reportedly be recreated within minutes.

Background: NEET 2026 Re-Examination

The NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination is scheduled for 21 June and is set to be held for over 22 lakh candidates, following allegations of question paper leaks in the original examination conducted on 3 May. The temporary ban on Telegram was framed by the Centre as a protective measure to prevent further compromise of the re-examination process.

With the court now backing the government's position, the restrictions remain in force through the re-examination date. Whether Telegram pursues a higher court challenge remains to be seen.