Telegram moves Delhi HC against temporary India ban ahead of NEET-UG re-exam

Instant messaging platform Telegram has moved the Delhi High Court against the Centre’s decision to temporarily block its services in India ahead of the NEET-UG re-examination, according to a Bar and Bench report.

The matter was mentioned before a vacation bench of Justice Tejas Karia by Advocate Madhav Khosla, who sought an urgent hearing. The court agreed to take up the case today, the report said.

According to the report, Khosla told the court that the ban has affected more than 150 million Telegram users in India.

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The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had issued directions under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, blocking access to Telegram in India till June 22. The move comes ahead of the NEET-UG re-examination scheduled for June 21.

The government has cited concerns that Telegram was being used by organised cheating networks linked to the NEET-UG controversy.  

Authorities have argued that Telegram channels were allegedly being used to circulate leaked or fake question papers, coordinate cheating and spread exam-related misinformation.

In a separate direction, the government also asked Telegram to disable the message-editing feature for already posted messages till June 30. Officials flagged concerns that the feature could be used to manipulate timestamps and alter messages after they were published.