The Central government on Thursday filed an affidavit in response to a notice issued by the Delhi High Court on a plea filed by the Telegram application regarding the ban.
The Centre told the Delhi HC that Telegram failed to prevent the NEET-UG paper leak. According to the affidavit, NTA identified several Telegram channels, groups and bots that were involved in spreading leaked exam papers and fraudulent activities related to the NEET exam.
The Centre said that MEITY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) had received several complaints regarding the misuse of Telegram in the NEET paper leak case.
The court was apprised that the initial steps involved the least restrictive approach and did not immediately block Telegram. Instead of blocking the app, authorities summoned Telegram representatives to a meeting on June 3, 2026.
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During the meeting, the government expressed concern that Telegram had failed to actively identify and stop channels spreading leaked exam papers; to which, Telegram acknowledged its limitations.
Telegram a "new dark web"
The Centre also described Telegram as a "new dark web," being used by threat actors to evade detection. In its affidavit, the Centre said, "Telegram has become the new dark web, linking threat actors. Criminals have rapidly adopted Telegram to post links on channels that connect to dark web forums through deep web links, making it hard for authorities to track and attribute criminals".
"It has been observed that Telegram is being exploited for illegal activities including drug trafficking, cybercrime, extremism, terrorism, child exploitation, and cyber scams and frauds, primarily due to privacy features," the Centre submitted.
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The Centre on June 16 temporarily banned Telegram, which has over 15 crore active users in the country, until June 22. The restriction was imposed by MEITY at the request of the National Testing Agency (NTA), which is re-conducting the NEET-UG examination on June 21. The move has been aimed at preventing any leak like the last time when the portal emerged as a key medium for irregularities.
HC reserves order
After hearing arguments from both sides, the Delhi High Court vacation bench headed by Justice Tejas Karia reserved the order. The judge has asked both parties to submit written submissions by 7 pm.