The Delhi High Court is set to announce its decision on Friday regarding Telegram’s challenge against the temporary suspension of its services in India before the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination on June 21. Justice Tejas Karia, on Thursday, reserved judgment after hearing arguments from Telegram and the Union government. The verdict is expected to be delivered at 10:30 a.m. on June 19, according to the court’s website.
The plea filed by Telegram questions the restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, following recommendations from the National Testing Agency. Telegram contests the suspension of its services until June 22 and the disabling of its message-editing feature until June 30, arguing that these actions disproportionately impact millions of users.
The Union government defended its decision, stating that Telegram’s structure and its repeated misuse for exam-related frauds left them with no choice but to invoke emergency blocking powers under the Information Technology Act. The government emphasized that the decision was made after exploring various options, including requests for the removal of unlawful content, which were deemed insufficient.
According to the government, the NTA identified multiple Telegram channels allegedly involved in selling NEET question papers and engaging in exam-related scams. These channels, groups, and bots reportedly reached around 1.46 lakh accounts and were openly soliciting payments from candidates for access to exam papers.
The government’s primary concern, as stated, is to uphold the integrity of the re-examination, which was arranged for more than 22 lakh candidates following suspicions of question paper leaks in the original NEET (UG) 2026 exam held on May 3. The Delhi High Court intervened after Telegram urgently sought relief against the government’s temporary measures.
