Centre defends Telegram ban, cites NEET fraud concerns before Delhi HC
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New Delhi: The Centre has defended its decision to temporarily suspend Telegram services across India ahead of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination, telling the Delhi High Court that repeated misuse of the messaging platform for examination-related frauds left the government with “no other option” but to invoke emergency blocking powers under the Information Technology Act.
In a short affidavit filed before the Delhi High Court in response to Telegram’s writ petition challenging the suspension, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said the decision was taken only after exhausting less restrictive alternatives, including repeated requests for targeted removal of unlawful content.
The affidavit, filed by Mayank, Scientist-E with the Government of India’s MeitY, stated that previous measures were found to be inadequate due to the scale and nature of the alleged misuse.
The Centre argued that Telegram had become a major platform for the circulation of alleged NEET paper leaks, fake examination materials, cyber frauds and other unlawful activities, posing a serious threat to public order and the integrity of the national examination system.
The government said the issue was particularly sensitive as the NEET re-examination involves nearly 22 lakh students across the country, and any compromise in the examination process could lead to unrest and disruption.
According to the affidavit, MeitY received a complaint from the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 21 regarding an alleged coordinated fraud network operating on Telegram through channels and groups with names such as “Re-NEET 2026” and “Paper Leaked NEET”.
The NTA claimed that the identified channels, groups and bots had a combined reach of around 1.46 lakh accounts and were allegedly promoting access to purported examination papers in exchange for money.
The affidavit stated that a meeting was held between the government and Telegram officials on June 3, during which the platform acknowledged difficulties in proactively identifying channels involved in selling leaked papers. Telegram also reportedly accepted that malicious actors were misusing its anonymity features.
The government maintained that Telegram had failed to take sufficient proactive measures despite repeated concerns raised over several years.
According to the Centre, officials conveyed during the meeting that the spread of illegal content had grown beyond control and strict action against the platform could be considered due to its failure to prevent misuse.
Defending the restrictions imposed under Rule 9 of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009, the Centre said authorities had no effective alternative due to the rapid creation of mirror channels, anonymous accounts and automated bots.
The affidavit referred to a Telegram channel named “NEET Mafia” with around 18,617 subscribers, alleging that it was being used to share content related to paper leaks, payment arrangements and advance booking schemes.
The government argued that each subscriber could potentially be a recipient, participant, facilitator, beneficiary or witness linked to the alleged unlawful activities.
The Centre also cited reports prepared by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), stating that Telegram’s technical features, including anonymity tools, large-scale channels, automated bots, forwarding mechanisms and cloud-based architecture, created major challenges for law enforcement agencies.
The affidavit said Telegram’s ability to quickly recreate blocked channels and accounts made content-specific takedown measures ineffective.
The government stated that interim blocking under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act was the only effective step to prevent repeated recreation of channels and continuation of unlawful activities.
Referring to the upcoming NEET re-examination, the Centre said its primary objective was to protect the sanctity and fairness of the examination process and prevent further controversy.
It said any delay in blocking access could have resulted in student unrest, disruption of public order and possible commission of offences.
The government further argued that Telegram’s commercial interests were outweighed by the interests of more than 22 lakh NEET candidates and the need to maintain public confidence in the examination system.
Telegram has challenged the Centre’s decision to temporarily suspend its services across India until June 22 and disable its message-editing feature until June 30, claiming that the restrictions are disproportionate and affect millions of users.
The Centre imposed the temporary restrictions ahead of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21, citing concerns over alleged paper leaks, misinformation campaigns and cheating networks.
The NTA has maintained that channel-specific takedowns and enforcement actions were insufficient to tackle the scale of the alleged misuse.
The re-examination is being conducted after allegations of question paper leaks during the original NEET (UG) 2026 examination held on May 3.
With IANS inputs