The Delhi High Court on 18 June 2026 reserved its judgment on a petition challenging the government's temporary ban on the Telegram platform ahead of the NEET‑UG re‑examination scheduled for 21 June 2026.
Key Developments
- The Centre, through the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, invoked Section 69A to suspend Telegram access until 22 June 2026.
- Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that Telegram’s “architectural flaws” and the presence of large numbers of bots make it unsuitable for controlling illegal channels.
- The government cited an I4C report stating a single Telegram account can create up to 40 bots, whereas WhatsApp allows only one per user.
- A separate direction requires Telegram to disable the “edit‑message” feature until 30 June 2026 to prevent manipulation of posted content.
- The Court questioned whether the rights of millions of legitimate users can be curtailed because a minority misuse the platform.
Important Facts
- 22 lakh se adhik chhatra NEET‑UG punah pareeksha mein bhag lenge, aur unke parivar parinaam se nikatata se jude hain.
- Telegram cloud infrastructure par karya karta hai, jisse vyaktigat aparadhiyon ko trace karna kathin ho jata hai, jaisa ki sarkar ne ujagar kiya hai.
- Channel migration ke udaharan—ek lakh upayogakarta kuch seconds mein naye channel mein sthaanantarit hote hain—po