Telegram has moved the Delhi High Court against the Central government’s decision to block its services across India until June 22 amid concerns linked to the NEET-UG re-examination.
According to Bar & Bench, the matter was mentioned before a vacation bench of Justice Tejas Karia by advocate Madhav Khosla, who sought an urgent hearing. Taking note of the request, the Court agreed to hear the case on the same day.
Telegram says millions of users affected
During the hearing, Khosla argued that the government’s action has had a massive impact on Telegram’s user base in India. He told the Court that more than 150 million users of the platform have been affected by the temporary ban.
The Centre imposed the restriction after raising concerns that Telegram was allegedly being used by organised cheating networks connected to the NEET-UG controversy.
Why the government banned Telegram
The decision comes in the backdrop of the NEET-UG paper leak row. The original examination was cancelled following allegations of large-scale irregularities and the circulation of leaked question papers.
According to the government, certain Telegram channels, operating under names such as “PAPER LEAKED NEET”, “Re-NEET 2026”, “Private Mafia” and “REE NEET MAFIAA,” were being used to share leaked or fake question papers, coordinate cheating activities and assist fraud networks.
Authorities also expressed concerns about Telegram’s message-editing feature, claiming it could be used to alter timestamps and make it difficult to track the origin and timing of messages. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) issued directions under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, restricting access to Telegram in India until June 22.
In a separate order, the government directed the platform to disable its message-editing feature for already-posted messages until June 30.
Telegram founder hits out at India ban
Earlier, reacting to the ban, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov said, “Banning Telegram to prevent the NEET paper leak won’t stop anything.” He added that the leaks had “simply moved to other apps” and argued that the restriction would instead “punish” more than 150 million users in India who rely on the platform.
According to the National Testing Agency (NTA), both measures were taken “in the interest of public order” and were aimed at preventing cheating rackets from exploiting students ahead of the re-examination.
NTA says ban was the last option
In its statement, the agency said the action was “a measure of last resort” and came only after other remedies, including takedown requests coordinated through the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), failed to produce the response authorities believed was necessary.
According to the NTA, these channels were demanding anywhere from a few thousand rupees to several lakh rupees from students and their families in exchange for what they claimed was access to the NEET re-examination paper.
Even as the government defended the decision, NTA Director General Abhishek Singh acknowledged that the ban cannot completely stop such activities. He admitted that some operators could continue running Telegram channels by using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to bypass restrictions.
However, Singh argued that the move would still make a difference because it would cut off access for a large number of students.
“Even though they can continue operating channels using VPNs, if there is no clientele, the fraud will be prevented, and students will be protected from losing money and wasting their time dealing with fabricated question paper leaks,” he said.