Delhi High Court to Deliver Verdict on Telegram’s Challenge to NEET-Linked Suspension Today

New Delhi, June 2026 : The Delhi High Court is set to pronounce its verdict on Friday in a high-profile case involving messaging platform Telegram’s challenge to the Centre’s decision to temporarily suspend its services across India ahead of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21.

Justice Tejas Karia of the Delhi High Court reserved judgment on Thursday after hearing detailed arguments from both Telegram and the Union government. According to the court’s official schedule, the verdict will be delivered at 10:30 a.m. on Friday.

The case stems from a writ petition filed by Telegram questioning the legality and proportionality of restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The action was taken following recommendations made by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which raised concerns over the alleged misuse of the platform in connection with examination-related fraud.

Under the government’s order, Telegram’s services were temporarily suspended across India until June 22. In addition, the platform’s message-editing feature was directed to remain disabled until June 30. Telegram has argued that these measures are excessive and disproportionately affect millions of legitimate users who rely on the application for communication, education, and business purposes.

Defending its decision, the Union government told the court that the restrictions were necessary to safeguard the integrity of the NEET (UG) re-examination. The government maintained that Telegram’s platform architecture and its repeated misuse for examination scams left authorities with no viable alternative but to invoke emergency blocking powers under the IT Act.

In an affidavit submitted through MeitY, the Centre stated that it had exhausted all other available options before resorting to a nationwide suspension. Authorities said repeated requests for targeted removal of unlawful content and specific channels had failed to adequately address the problem.

According to the government, the NTA had identified several Telegram channels, groups, and automated bots allegedly involved in selling purported NEET question papers and facilitating examination-related fraud. These channels reportedly had a combined reach of nearly 1.46 lakh user accounts and were allegedly soliciting payments from students in exchange for access to examination materials.

The Centre argued that preserving the credibility and fairness of the re-examination remains its primary concern. More than 22 lakh candidates are expected to appear for the NEET (UG) 2026 re-test, which was ordered following allegations of question paper leaks and irregularities in the original examination conducted on May 3.

The outcome of the case is likely to have significant implications for both digital platform regulation and the government’s authority to impose emergency restrictions in situations involving public interest and examination security.