Delhi HC Backs Centre’s Limited Telegram Access Curbs Before June 21 NEET-UG Exam

The Delhi High Court on Friday upheld the Central Government’s decision to temporarily restrict access to the Telegram messaging platform ahead of the NEET-UG re-examination scheduled for June 21. The court ruled that the government’s order was “not disproportionate” and found the temporary restrictions to be legally justified. Delivering the verdict, the vacation bench of Justice Tejas Karia observed that the Centre’s directive was “minimally restrictive” and that the government had the authority to order temporary restrictions on access to Telegram. A detailed order is awaited. During the hearing, Telegram’s counsel questioned the legality of the government’s blocking order, arguing that the action had affected more than 150 million users. However, the court declined to interfere with the Centre’s decision. The issue stems from the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) decision to cancel the NEET-UG 2026 examination conducted on May 3 for medical admissions after allegations of a paper leak surfaced. The cancellation was announced on May 12, and a re-examination has been scheduled for June 21. The investigation into the alleged paper leak is currently being conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Acting on recommendations from the NTA, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a directive on June 16 under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, restricting access to Telegram in India until June 22, covering the re-examination day and the immediate period thereafter. In a separate direction, Telegram was also instructed to disable its message-editing feature for messages already posted in India until June 30, 2026. According to the government, the measure was intended to address a specific platform feature that had allegedly been misused to fabricate post-event "paper leak" evidence related to national examinations. The High Court’s ruling allows the temporary restrictions to remain in force as the authorities proceed with measures aimed at ensuring the integrity of the upcoming NEET-UG re-examination.