A court in New Delhi on Friday upheld a temporary ban on Telegram in India, dealing a significant blow to the messaging platform as authorities intensify efforts to prevent exam-related fraud ahead of a key national medical entrance test.
The decision came after Telegram challenged an order issued by India’s Information Technology Ministry that suspended access to the platform until June 22. The government imposed the restriction over concerns that several channels on the app were claiming to sell leaked questions for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), the country’s undergraduate medical entrance examination.
India is scheduled to conduct the exam on Sunday, one month after it cancelled the results of an earlier test following allegations that question papers had been leaked before the examination. The controversy sparked widespread concern among students and parents and prompted authorities to tighten monitoring of online platforms.
The ban took effect within hours of being announced, with Indian telecom operators blocking access to Telegram and major technology companies removing the application from their digital stores. The move quickly became one of the most closely watched legal disputes between a global technology platform and the Indian government this year.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Tejas Karia of the Delhi High Court said the government’s orders were properly reasoned and issued in accordance with established legal procedures. The court declined Telegram’s request to overturn the temporary prohibition.
Telegram, which counts more than 150 million users in India, has strongly opposed the ban. The platform’s founder, Pavel Durov, publicly criticized the government’s action, arguing that the restriction unfairly penalizes millions of users while those involved in exam-related misconduct have simply shifted their activities elsewhere.
The court battle followed several days of discussions between government officials and Telegram representatives. According to reports, authorities expressed dissatisfaction with what they viewed as insufficient action by the company to remove channels and accounts advertising purported leaked examination papers.
Telegram rejected that characterization in its court submissions. The company argued that the government’s account of the discussions was incomplete and failed to acknowledge measures already taken to combat unlawful content on the platform.
In its filing, Telegram stated that it had removed more than 900 links connected to illegal exam-related material and maintained that it had established procedures to identify and take down such content.
The dispute highlights growing pressure on technology companies operating in India to respond swiftly to government concerns about online fraud and misinformation. With millions of students preparing to sit for Sunday’s examination, authorities have defended the temporary ban as a necessary step to protect the integrity of one of the country’s most important competitive tests.
