Delhi HC Upholds Centre’s DecisionTo Restrict Telegram Till June 22

The Delhi High Court (HC) has reportedly upheld the central government’s decision to restrict public access to the Telegram till June 22.

Dismissing Telegram’s petition, Justice Tejas Karia held that the Centre was empowered under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act to restrict access to the platform and that the measure met the test of proportionality.

“The government was empowered under Section 69A to direct blocking of access to Telegram. Test of proportionality is satisfied … The government’s measures are least restrictive. It cannot be held that the order is disproportionate,” the Court observed, as per a report by the Bar and Bench.

The Court held that the reasons cited by the government were sufficient in view of the emergent circumstances and that the due process prescribed under Section 69A had been followed.

Telegram had questioned how concerns around the NEET examination could justify invoking grounds such as the sovereignty and integrity of India under Section 69A. 

The Court, however, rejected the contention. It also held that there was no reason under the IT Act to exclude Telegram from the ambit of “information”.

The verdict comes a day after the Centre told the Delhi HC that Telegram had become the “new dark web”, enabling criminals to connect and carry out illegal activities while making it difficult for authorities to track them.

In its counter affidavit to Telegram’s petition, the government said it had identified a Telegram channel titled “NEET Mafia”, which had around 18,617 subscribers and was allegedly disseminating content around paper leaks, advance booking arrangements, payment collection mechanisms and examination-related material.

“Telegram has become the new dark web, linking threat actors. Criminals have rapidly adopted Telegram to post links on channels that connect to dark web forums through deep web links, making it hard for authorities to track and attribute criminals,” the Centre’s affidavit read.

The government further argued that Telegram’s cloud-based architecture, public channels, large groups, bots and username-based identities allowed unlawful content to spread rapidly while helping users conceal their identities.

It alleged that the platform had facilitated activities ranging from cyber fraud and financial scams to drug trafficking, child exploitation, piracy and terrorism.

At the heart of the case is the leak of the examination paper of NEET-UG 2026. Identifying the use of Telegram for dissemination of the leaked exam, MeitY had issued an order under Section 69A restricting access to the messaging platform in India till June 22. It also directed the platform to disable its message-editing feature for existing posts till June 30.

The Centre alleged that Telegram’s message-editing feature was used to make it appear that question papers had been leaked before the exam. It also said users could be shifted from one channel to another within seconds, making enforcement difficult.

Telegram challenged the order, arguing that it was unconstitutional and that the government had unfairly singled it out while other social media platforms continued to operate.

The company claimed it had held multiple meetings with government agencies, removed flagged content within an hour of receiving URLs from authorities and took down more than 900 links related to unlawful NEET content.

Telegram argued that the blocking order reflected non-application of mind and said it had been cooperating with authorities by removing flagged content and complying with applicable rules.

The Centre, meanwhile, maintained that Telegram had failed to adequately curb suspicious channels despite repeated notices and that the temporary restriction was necessary to prevent further paper leaks.

While the Court questioned the impact on millions of users, the government argued that preventive action was justified given the scale of the threat.

Telegram had approached the Delhi HC on June 17 challenging the restriction. After hearing arguments from both sides, the Court reserved its verdict on June 18 before pronouncing judgment today.

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