The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Center to file its response to the petition filed by Telegram against the government’s order to temporarily restrict access to the messaging app before NEET-UG 2026 re-examination on June 21.
As the matter came before a single-judge bench of Justice Tejas Karia, Telegram’s lawyer claimed that the restrictions were illegal, but Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta defended the government’s action, saying the platform had been misused and that he would reveal “something shocking” on Thursday.
“If the court publishes the matter tomorrow, there is something shocking that I can show… One channel starts, it is blocked, then another channel comes on. Using the QR code, you can make the payment. This is ongoing,” Mehta said.
The court referred the case to another session on Thursday and issued a notice to the Centre.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), based on the recommendations of the National Testing Agency (NTA), issued the order on June 16 under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, restricting access to Telegram in India until June 22, and also disabling the platform’s message editing feature until June 30, according to an NTA statement.
During their appearance on Telegram, human rights advocates Madhav Khosla, Abhi Uday Singh Gautam and Roshni Ojha argued that the government’s order was arbitrary and was issued with “lack of application of reason”.
“There is not a whisper from the Center about the action we have taken against the erring users. The designated official at the Center says we have done nothing. The platform has taken proactive steps to block the channels or groups,” the lawyers submitted.
They argued that the restriction affects more than 150 million users and businesses operating on the platform, and amounts to a disproportionate impact on freedom of speech and expression.
