Messaging platform Telegram on Wednesday, 17 June 2026, approached the Delhi High Court challenging the Central government's decision to temporarily suspend its services across India ahead of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination scheduled for 21 June. The petition was mentioned before the Vacation Bench of Justice Tejas Karia, who agreed to list the matter for hearing later in the day.

What the Government Ordered

The Union government on Tuesday, 16 June, announced a temporary restriction on Telegram's operations in India until 22 June, covering the examination day and its immediate aftermath. The directive was issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, following recommendations made by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Authorities additionally directed Telegram to disable its message-editing feature in India until 30 June. According to the NTA, this feature had previously been misused to fabricate evidence of question paper leaks — bad actors reportedly edited older messages and swapped attachments while retaining the original timestamp, making forged content appear authentic.

Why the NTA Sought the Ban

The NTA stated that channel-specific takedowns and other enforcement measures had proved insufficient to contain the scale of alleged malpractice. Several Telegram channels operating under names such as 'Paper Leaked NEET', 'Re-NEET 2026', and 'Private Mafia' had allegedly been demanding payments from candidates in exchange for purported access to examination papers. The agency said a blanket platform restriction was the only remaining option.

This comes amid a broader crisis of confidence in India's national medical entrance examination. The NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination was ordered following allegations of question paper leaks during the original examination held on 3 May 2026.

Telegram's Response and Durov's Criticism

Telegram founder and chief executive Pavel Durov publicly criticised the suspension, stating in a post on social media platform X that India's IT ministry had banned Telegram for one week because some users allegedly shared leaked examination questions — a move he said had impacted more than 150 million legitimate users in the country.

Durov said the company had already removed hundreds of channels in recent weeks that were allegedly involved in sharing leaked examination materials and running scams targeting students. He also said Telegram was working to make the 'edited' label on messages more prominent to prevent backdating scams and timestamp manipulation.

App Stores Pull Telegram in India

In compliance with the government's directive, both Google and Apple removed Telegram from their respective app stores in India. The removal affects new downloads; existing installations on user devices are separately governed by the access restriction enforced at the network level.

What Happens Next

The Delhi High Court is expected to hear Telegram's challenge on the same day it was mentioned, with the platform seeking relief before the 21 June re-examination. The outcome could set a significant precedent for how Indian courts weigh platform-wide suspensions against targeted content enforcement under the IT Act. All eyes are now on whether the court grants interim relief or allows the restriction to remain through examination day.