Telegram loses court battle as India upholds temporary ban till June 22 to protect NEET medical exam from leaks and fraud.
Telegram's hope of overturning India's short-term ban has hit a wall.
The Delhi High Court on Friday threw out the company's petition challenging the block. Justice Tejas Karia ruled that the government's order was lawful, describing it as the "least restrictive" option and not disproportionate to the problem at hand.
The temporary restriction, issued under Section 69A of India's Information Technology Act, will stay in force until June 22. The court said the Centre was empowered to direct the blocking and that the emergency order did not suffer from "non-application of mind".
Authorities rolled out the ban ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21. The national medical entrance test was rescheduled after the earlier sitting was cancelled following allegations that questions were leaked in advance. Officials say the block is needed to stop organised cheating networks and prevent exam paper leaks.
Telegram pushed back hard. Its lawyers argued the blanket ban unfairly punishes more than 150 million Indian users for the actions of a few, calling the move punitive rather than preventive. The court noted the company said the measure was disproportionate given concerns over leaked papers and scam channels.
The government insisted Telegram is a unique case. It told the court that blocked channels can be recreated quickly and that phone numbers and usernames can be concealed, creating "a persistent enforcement challenge".
Digital rights campaigners are uneasy. The Internet Freedom Foundation warned after the verdict that it "sets a concerning precedent with consequences for the open internet that extend well beyond this case".
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