Telegram In Delhi High Court Over Centre's 'Temporary Ban' For NEET Re-Test

The testing body - under fire after a string of leaked papers - said the restrictions are meant to tackle organised cheating rackets and the spread of fake messages related to the examination.

17 Jun 2026, 06:00 · www.ndtv.com

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Telegram moves Delhi High Court against temporary ban before NEET-UG re-test on June 21
Centre orders 24-hour Telegram ban to prevent paper leaks and cheating networks in exams
NTA accuses Telegram of misuse in editing messages to create fake paper leak evidence

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New Delhi:

Instant messaging platform Telegram moved the Delhi High Court Wednesday against the centre's decision to temporarily ban its services across India before the NEET-UG re-test on June 21. The court agreed to hear the matter on an urgent basis.

On Tuesday the centre ordered a 24-hour ban on the recommendation of the National Testing Agency, the central body tasked with conducting qualifying exams like the NEET which is the entrance barrier for admission to medical courses in the country.

The centre said the temporary ban was to prevent paper leaks and spread of misinformation, and to shut down organised cheating networks. Telegram was also told to disable its message-editing feature. The NTA claimed it had been misused to create 'paper leak' evidence by editing messages and inserting questions after tests were held, while retaining the timestamp.

The testing body - under fire from students and civil society activists over repeat cases of leaked papers - claimed a temporary ban could help counter syndicates that use its secure service to share pre-solved papers with aspiring medical students.

Desperate candidates pay lakhs of rupees for a pre-solved question paper. The NTA claimed fraudsters were demanding up to Rs 25,000 and, in some cases, as much as Rs 10 lakh for access to allegedly leaked re-exam papers.

Following the government's order Google and Apple - whose Android and iOS operating systems are used on over 99 per cent of all mobile devices in the country - have temporarily removed Telegram from their mobile application stores.

But Telegram founder Pavel Durov criticised the move, arguing it affects millions of other users without resolving the problem. "India banned Telegram for one week because some users shared leaked exam questions. This punishes 150M+ ordinary Telegram users - not insiders who leaked exam materials. Ban hasn't stopped anything. Leaks will move to other apps."

But authorities investigating the May NEET exam paper leak have said Telegram user groups have been offering leaked question papers for sale, usually preying on "candidates' fear... deep in the pressure of such competitive exams". And tracking such channels is tedious task for the police or investigating teams, as many use VPN to hide their digital tracks.

Students have welcomed the decision to temporarily ban Telegram but reminded the government and testing body authorities the focus must be on preventing question paper leaks.

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