The temporary blocking order against Telegram was passed following recommendations by the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education.
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In a setback for Telegram, the Delhi High Court on Friday upheld the Centre’s decision to temporarily block access to the messaging platform until June 22 ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination.
It ruled that the government’s action under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act was proportionate, legally justified and necessary to ensure fair conduct of the examination. Dismissing Telegram’s challenge to the ban, Justice Tejas Karia held that the government was empowered to restrict access to the platform and that the blocking order met the constitutional test of proportionality despite its impact on millions of users in India.
“…Temporarily blocking public access to Telegram cannot be held to be disproportional. In view of the above analysis, the present petition along with the application is thereby dismissed,” Justice Karia pronounced.
The High Court, in its 39-page verdict said that the temporary blocking order against Telegram was passed following recommendations by the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Ministry of Education.
On May 12, the NTA cancelled the NEET-UG test held on May 3 for medical admissions amid allegations of a paper leak.
A vacation bench of Justice Karia dealt with two questions whether the impugned order was vitiated by non-application of mind and if temporarily blocking the Telegram platform satisfied the requirement of proportionality.
Answering the questions, the bench held, “The measures adopted by Respondent No. 1 (the Centre) under the orders constitute the least restrictive measure for achieving the stated objective….Accordingly, the action of Respondent No. 1 in temporarily blocking public access to Telegram cannot be held to be disproportionate,” the verdict said while dismissing the plea of the UAE-based messaging app.
The Centre told the Delhi High Court that Telegram had emerged as a major facilitator of cybercrime, fraud, data leaks and examination paper leak rackets, citing an assessment by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) that described the messaging platform as the “new dark web” for threat actors.
The report argued that the platform’s anonymity features and large channel ecosystem make it difficult for law enforcement agencies to identify offenders and curb illegal activities. The Centre also pointed to a sharp increase in complaints linked to Telegram on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
At the same time, documents placed before the Court showed that Telegram had complied with a large number of government takedown requests. A table annexed to the affidavit indicated that 45 notices covering 404 URLs had been issued through the government’s Sahyog portal and that all the flagged links were removed or closed by the platform.
The Centre also cited actions taken by several countries against Telegram, including regulatory restrictions, investigations or temporary blocks, to argue that concerns surrounding the platform are not unique to India.
Telegram’s counsel had questioned the legality of the government order blocking the platform. He had said that over 150 million users had been affected by the Centre’s action.
Published on June 19, 2026
