Instant messaging platform Telegram has approached the Delhi High Court to challenge the Central government’s temporary ban on its operations in India, which was enacted ahead of the crucial National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) re-examination on June 21.
Advocate Madhav Khosla mentioned the matter urgently before a vacation bench of Justice Tejas Karia, who agreed to hear the plea immediately. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) imposed the restriction until June 22 under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, following recommendations from the National Testing Agency (NTA). While Telegram argues that the ban disproportionately impacts its 150 million Indian users, the government and the NTA maintain that the platform was being extensively used by organized cheating networks to circulate fake question papers and orchestrate financial scams.
Government Restrictions And Security Measures
In addition to blocking access to the platform, the Central government has directed Google and Apple to temporarily remove Telegram from their respective app stores until June 22.
Furthermore, the authorities ordered Telegram to completely disable its message-editing feature for existing posts in India until June 30. Elaborating on this structural concern, the NTA stated in an official release that fraudsters were exploiting the app’s features to manipulate data. “The feature, in its present form, permits a channel administrator to edit the content of a previously posted message, including the substitution of attached files such as PDFs, while the original send-time stamp is retained,” the agency clarified. This allowed paper-leak rackets to substitute harmless old posts with actual question papers after the exam concluded, creating fabricated evidence of an advanced leak to backdate scams and blackmail vulnerable candidates.
Mounting Scams And Digital Backlash
The aggressive regulatory clampdown follows the massive controversy surrounding the initial NEET-UG examination, which had to be cancelled after widespread paper leaks and systemic institutional irregularities came to light.
According to information shared by the NTA, multiple illicit channels with names like “PAPER LEAKED NEET” and “Private Mafia” targeted stressed students, demanding anywhere from ₹14,000 to ₹10 lakh in exchange for fraudulent question papers. However, Telegram’s leadership has fiercely pushed back against the sweeping suspension. In an official post on X, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov expressed deep dissatisfaction with the collective punishment of innocent citizens. Durov claimed that the action punishes more than 150 million ordinary Telegram users in India rather than the “insiders” who initially leaked the exam materials, adding that “the ban hasn’t stopped anything; the leaks just moved to other apps.” He assured that Telegram is actively taking down hundreds of scam channels and making the ‘edited’ label more prominent to help authorities.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
This escalating digital standoff reveals a deeper crisis in our education and administrative systems, where a complete communication blackout is being used as a quick fix for systemic vulnerabilities.
While safeguarding the integrity of national examinations and protecting students from predatory cheating mafias is absolutely paramount, abruptly cutting off access for 150 million citizens highlights a troubling reliance on digital bans. True security cannot be built on a foundation of panic and collective inconvenience; instead, it demands robust institutional accountability, empathetic administrative reforms, and a secure examination infrastructure that respects the digital rights of ordinary citizens. Over-regulation often fails to catch the root perpetrators, pushing the problem into darker corners of the internet while disrupting daily life for the masses. We must cultivate a system rooted in transparency and dialogue rather than absolute restrictions.
Also Read: Why RBI’s New Rules Could Make Trust More Valuable Than Followers For Finfluencers?
India’s IT ministry banned Telegram for one week because some users shared leaked exam questions.
— Pavel Durov (@durov) June 16, 2026
This punishes 150M+ ordinary Telegram users in India — not the insiders who leaked the exam materials.
And the ban hasn't stopped anything. The leaks just moved to other apps. https://t.co/CzQWN4mXfb
