NEW DELHI: Russian messaging platform Telegram on Tuesday moved the Delhi high court challenging the Centre’s decision to temporarily block access to the app ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination.According to news agency ANI, Telegram mentioned the matter before a bench of Justice Tejas Karia, which agreed to hear the plea later in the day.The Centre had recently ordered a temporary restriction on Telegram under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, following recommendations from the National Testing Agency (NTA). The ban is scheduled to remain in force until June 22, covering the June 21 NEET-UG re-test and its immediate aftermath.The government has also directed Telegram to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30. According to the NTA, the feature had been repeatedly misused by fraudsters to create fake evidence of question paper leaks by editing older posts after examinations were conducted and replacing attached files while retaining the original timestamp.The NTA welcomed the government’s intervention and thanked the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for what it described as swift action against organised cheating networks.“The directions have been issued 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,” the agency had said.The move comes against the backdrop of the NEET-UG controversy that led authorities to cancel the original examination after evidence of a paper leak emerged. A fresh examination has been scheduled for June 21 for affected candidates.According to officials, several Telegram channels allegedly claimed to offer access to the re-examination paper in exchange for money. These channels reportedly operated under names such as “PAPER LEAKED NEET”, “Re-NEET 2026”, “Private Mafia” and “REE NEET MAFIAA”, charging candidates amounts ranging from a few thousand rupees to several lakh rupees.The NTA has repeatedly maintained that no examination paper exists outside its secured distribution chain and described all such claims as fraudulent.
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The government’s action follows a broader crackdown led by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), which coordinated efforts with MeitY, state police forces and the NTA. Authorities have already taken down multiple Telegram channels, groups and bots allegedly involved in spreading misinformation and defrauding students.State agencies have also launched investigations. Bihar Police’s Economic Offences Unit issued a public advisory warning candidates against paper leak scams, while the Ahmedabad City Cyber Crime Branch recently arrested members of an inter-state fraud network allegedly operating several Telegram channels linked to examination fraud. Investigators reportedly traced transactions worth around Rs 1.5 crore through fake bank accounts connected to the operation.Officials said the platform-wide restriction was introduced after authorities concluded that taking down individual channels alone was insufficient, as operators quickly created replacement groups and accounts.(With inputs from ANI)
