Delhi High Court ordered Union government to reply to Telegram messaging platform's petition challenging its temporary ban in India. NEET-UG re-exam is set for June 21,2026. Telegram accused of aiding cheating during exam.
At a hearing Wednesday, Justice Tejas Karia told government to respond by Thursday, June 18, 2026 . Court meets again at 2:30 p.m. to dig deeper. Government suspended Telegram till June 22 under Section 69A of Information Technology Act — fears of cheating networks using app to share leaked or fake exam questions.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said Telegram's features can spread false info, manipulate message times. Claimed channels on platform involved in selling leaked exam questions. Authorities warned Telegram many times, gave examples,but issues stayed .
Mehta stressed restrictions needed to protect exam integrity. He warned,“If you give me time till tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.,I will place shocking things before the court,” highlighting severity of allegations against platform.
Senior Advocate Dhruv Mehta, for Telegram, challenged government's block order's legality. Argued Centre didn't fully consider Telegram's replies and actions. Noted discussions with government since early June,removing harmful content .
Telegram removed over 900 NEET-related illegal links,uses AI and human moderators to weed out violations. Legal team argued government's actions unfair,other social media platforms not facing same restrictions.
Dhruv Mehta argued holding whole platform accountable for few users' actions violates constitutional rights like free speech,info access. Said,“Our app is used by students who regularly get study material over it. Teachers use our platform to teach. It’s used for business purposes and even for several other things. This is a curtailment of fundamental rights of those who use our app.”
After hearing both sides,court worried any digital platform could be misused. Justice Karia asked government for more on extent of illegal activities on Telegram, showing careful balance between exam integrity and user rights…
