Telegram has moved the Delhi High Court challenging the Centre’s decision to temporarily ban the messaging platform ahead of the NEET examinations. The matter was urgently mentioned before Justice Tejas Karia, who directed that the case be listed for hearing today, after the government restricted access to Telegram until June 22.
Telegram moves the Delhi High Court against the Central government’s decision to temporarily ban the platform ahead of the NEET exams.
The High Court has agreed to hear the matter urgently today.
The case was mentioned before the vacation bench of Justice Tejas Karia, who directed that it be listed today.
Earlier, The government has restricted access to Telegram until June 22.
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The Centre says the action is being taken against cheating rackets that allegedly used the messaging platform to defraud students ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued the restriction under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, acting on recommendations from the National Testing Agency (NTA) days before lakhs of medical aspirants appear for the re-test on June 21.
The ban is time-bound and limited in scope. Access will remain restricted until June 22, covering the day of the exam and the immediate period after it.
Separately, Telegram has also been instructed to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30, effectively shutting down a tool the NTA claims has been repeatedly misused to create fake “paper leak” evidence once the exams conclude.
The NTA termed the step calibrated and necessary.
The agency said,
“The directions have been issued in the interest of public order, in response to the organised use of the platform by cheating rackets to defraud candidates appearing for the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination,”
It also thanked MeitY for intervening promptly, adding that the measures would help ensure the re-exam proceeds safely on June 21.
The background is important. Last month, authorities cancelled the original NEET-UG exam after it emerged that the questions had leaked, and the re-scheduled exam was set for June 21.
The NTA described the platform-wide block as a measure of last resort. It said that removing channels one by one has structural limitations, as operators can simply start new channels. The agency and the Department of Higher Education, it noted, therefore pushed for graduated, platform-level compliance instead.
The restriction is intended to be narrow and confined to the exam window to minimise disruption. The NTA acknowledged that the block inconveniences lakhs of users who rely on Telegram for legitimate personal, professional and educational purposes, and said it regrets the inconvenience.
The NTA reiterated that the re-exam will be held as planned on June 21.
Candidates have been advised to ignore unverified claims, rely only on official NTA channels and the website (neet. nta. nic. in), and report any fraudulent approach to the cybercrime helpline at 1930.