GUWAHATI: Messaging platform Telegram on Wednesday, June 17, approached the Delhi High Court challenging the Centre's decision to temporarily block access to the platform in India ahead of the NEET (UG) re-examination, according to a report by Live Law.
The company has reportedly filed a petition seeking judicial intervention against the restriction imposed in the run-up to the medical entrance examination. The matter has been listed before the Delhi High Court and is expected to be heard later on Wednesday. Details regarding the specific grounds on which Telegram has challenged the order are yet to emerge.
The legal challenge comes days after the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced that access to Telegram would be temporarily restricted across India until June 22, 2026, during the NEET (UG) re-examination period.
The NTA had said the measure was aimed at preventing the spread of misinformation and safeguarding the integrity of the examination process. The agency also directed Telegram to disable the editing of already-posted messages in India until June 30.
According to the NTA, fraudsters had repeatedly exploited Telegram's message-editing feature to create misleading evidence of question paper leaks. Officials alleged that users edited older posts after examinations were conducted and replaced attached files while retaining the original timestamps, creating the impression that exam papers had been leaked before the test.
The restrictions come in the aftermath of the NEET-UG controversy, which led authorities to cancel the original examination following evidence of a question paper leak. A fresh examination has been scheduled for June 21 for affected candidates.
Meanwhile, Telegram appeared to take a veiled swipe at the Centre's decision through a post shared from its official account on June 17.
In a message that quickly went viral on social media, the platform wrote, "You should also shut down all the shopping malls since there might be a theft in one of them. And close the roads because I heard someone was speeding." While the company did not explicitly mention India or the NEET-related restrictions, many users interpreted the post as a sarcastic criticism of the temporary ban imposed on the messaging service ahead of the re-examination.