Home
Videos
Login
Profile
Delhi High Court upheld the Centre’s temporary ban on Telegram over NEET paper leak concerns, ruling that the emergency blocking order under Section 69A was valid and proportionate
The Delhi High Court has upheld the Centre’s temporary blocking order against Telegram in connection with allegations of a NEET re-examination paper leak, ruling that the emergency action was justified and legally compliant.
A Bench of Justice Tejas Karia held that the situation warranted urgent intervention and that the reasons recorded by the government were sufficient to sustain the blocking direction under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.
The Court rejected the challenge that there was non-application of mind, observing that the material on record showed due consideration of the circumstances and the statutory framework. It further clarified that “information” under the IT Act is broad enough to include content hosted and circulated on platforms like Telegram.
On proportionality, the Court held that the Centre was empowered to issue the blocking order and that the measure satisfied the legal test of being the least restrictive alternative in the circumstances. The Bench concluded that the action was neither excessive nor disproportionate, and that procedural safeguards under Section 69A had been followed.
Accordingly, the Court dismissed the plea by Telegram.
Telegram had challenged the Centre’s order restricting access to the platform until June 22 and disabling its message-editing feature till June 30, contending that the action was disproportionate and legally unsustainable.
Notably on June 18, the Court had reserved its judgment on Telegram’s challenge to the Centre’s temporary restriction of the messaging platform ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, with the hearing centering on whether the government’s exercise of powers under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act met the constitutional test of proportionality.
The Single-judge bench had reserved orders after hearing Senior Advocate Dhruv Mehta for Telegram and Attorney General R. Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma for the Centre. “Arguments heard. Any party wishing to place additional submissions on record may do so by 7 PM today,” the Court had said.
On June 17, the Court had issued notice to the Centre on a plea filed by messaging platform Telegram challenging the government’s decision to temporarily restrict access to the app ahead of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21.
The Centre’s action followed directions issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, on the recommendations of the National Testing Agency (NTA).
According to the NTA, access to Telegram has been temporarily restricted in India until June 22, covering the June 21 NEET-UG 2026 re-examination and its immediate aftermath. In a separate direction, Telegram has also been required to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30, 2026. The NTA stated that the message-editing feature had been exploited to create fabricated “after-the-event” evidence of question paper leaks relating to national examinations. The examination agency said both measures were adopted “in the interest of public order” and in response to the organised use of the platform by cheating rackets seeking to defraud candidates appearing for the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination.
Case Title: Telegram FZ LLV & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors.
Bench: Justice Tejas Karia
Judgment Date: June 19, 2026
Leave a Reply