Telegram has moved to the Delhi High Court against a government order to temporarily restrict access to the messaging app ahead of the June 21 NEET-UG 2026 re-examination. The matter was mentioned before a vacation bench of Justice Tejas Karia, who agreed to hear it on an urgent basis.
Telegram's counsel told the court that over 150 million users had been affected by the Centre's decision on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), acting on recommendations of the National Testing Agency (NTA), has issued a direction under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, restricting access to the Telegram platform in India for a defined and limited period ending June 22, 2026, covering the day of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination and its immediate aftermath.
A separate direction requires Telegram to disable in India the message-editing feature for already-posted messages for a defined period ending June 30, 2026, addressing the specific structural feature through which the platform has been used to fabricate after-the-event "paper leak" evidence in respect of national examinations, the NTA said in a statement.
"Both measures have been taken in the interest of public order, in response to the organised use of the platform by cheating rackets to defraud candidates appearing for the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination scheduled on 21 June 2026," the NTA said on Tuesday.
Telegram CEO holds WhatsApp responsible —
CEO Pavel Durov has alleged that Reliance Group, in which Meta has a partial stake, may have lobbied, along with its competitor WhatsApp, to impose a ban on the company's app in India. He also accused Reliance of sabotaging access to Telegram for millions of users outside India (including the UAE).
A senior telecom industry source, who did not wish to be named, termed the allegations as "fake news" as Durov has confused Reliance Communications with Reliance Industries Ltd.
"Indian telecom Reliance is sabotaging access to Telegram for millions of users OUTSIDE India (including the UAE) via a rogue method called BGP hijacking. The sabotage seems intentional, as Reliance has ignored multiple reports. This may be part of a competitive war, as Reliance is partially owned by Meta, the company behind WhatsApp," Durov said in a social media post on X.
Meta has a small stake in the digital arm of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) — Jio, while subsea cables are operated by another group, Reliance Communications, which is not part of RIL. Durov said network operators are advised to reject unauthorised BGP announcements from Reliance (AS18101) to prevent route hijacks and ensure stable Internet access for their users.
"Such abuse of global Internet routing is alarming. I wouldn't be surprised if Reliance/WhatsApp were also behind the recent lobbying effort to ban Telegram in India," he said.
Follow us
