India court upholds Telegram restrictions ahead of NEET re-exam

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday upheld the Centre’s temporary restrictions on Telegram ahead of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2026 re-examination, while the National Testing Agency (NTA) dismissed fresh claims of paper leaks and police arrested a Rajasthan student accused of selling fake question papers online.

The developments come two days before the June 21 re-examination, which will be taken by nearly 2.3 million candidates after the original NEET-UG test was cancelled amid allegations of question paper leaks.

NEET-UG is India’s nationwide entrance examination for admission to undergraduate medical courses, including MBBS, BDS and other allied health programmes.

A single-judge bench of Justice Tejas Karia rejected Telegram’s challenge to the government’s decision to suspend the platform’s services across India until June 22 and disable its message-editing feature until June 30.

The court ruled that authorities had followed the procedure prescribed under law while invoking emergency powers under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.

“Given the emergency nature of the impugned orders, the respondents strictly followed the procedure,” the court said. It added that the government’s action met the test of proportionality, finding that the restrictions pursued a legitimate objective and that less restrictive alternatives had been considered.

Government cites exam fraud concerns

The Centre told the court that Telegram had repeatedly been used to facilitate examination-related scams and that earlier attempts to remove specific content had proved ineffective.

According to the government, the NTA identified several Telegram channels allegedly involved in selling purported NEET question papers and promoting examination fraud. Authorities said the channels, groups and bots under scrutiny had a combined reach of about 146,000 accounts.

The government argued that Telegram’s anonymity features, large subscriber channels, automated bots and cloud-based architecture made enforcement difficult. It maintained that channels and bots could be recreated within minutes, necessitating temporary platform-wide restrictions ahead of the re-examination.

Key numbers

• 2.3 million: Candidates expected to take the NEET-UG re-examination

• June 21: Date of the re-test

• 146,000: Accounts linked to Telegram channels under scrutiny, according to the Centre

• 5,000+: Examination centres across India

• 14: Overseas examination centres

• Rs 4,000: Amount allegedly charged for fake papers by the arrested student

NTA rejects leak claims

Even as social media posts and videos circulated online claiming that the re-examination paper had been leaked, NTA Director General Abhishek Singh rejected the allegations.

“They are fake, and question papers are safe,” Singh told ANI.

The agency said it was working with multiple government departments and security agencies to prevent malpractice and counter misinformation.

“NTA is committed 100 per cent to ensuring that no malpractice takes place. Every question paper has been prepared in a completely secure manner,” Singh said.

He added that additional layers of security had been introduced at every stage, including paper setting, translation, printing, transportation and storage.

The NTA has also been sending SMS, email and WhatsApp reminders urging candidates to download admit cards only through official channels and warning them against fraudulent messages.

Rajasthan student arrested

In a separate development, Rajasthan Police arrested a 19-year-old student in Bhilwara for allegedly selling fake NEET re-examination papers through a Telegram channel called “Paper Mafia”.

Police said the accused, identified as Akash Choudhary, used a US-based VPN and proxy network to conceal his identity while operating the channel.

Investigators alleged that he charged aspirants Rs 4,000 for purported question papers and accepted payments through QR code transfers. The channel reportedly had around 52 members.

According to police, the accused created the fake papers by scanning pages from NEET preparation books and presenting them as genuine examination papers.

Authorities recovered a mobile phone, study material and documents during a raid and are now examining bank transactions, digital records and possible links to a wider fraud network.

Police have registered a case under cheating provisions, the Information Technology Act and the Public Examination Act.

Massive security operation

The June 21 re-examination will be conducted at more than 5,000 centres across India and 14 centres abroad.

The NTA said it has coordinated with the Ministry of Home Affairs, paramilitary forces, state police, the Department of Posts, the Ministry of Defence and other agencies to ensure a secure and smooth examination process.

“This is a commitment that India has made to its young minds,” Singh said. “We will ensure that the examination is conducted in a flawless manner.”

- with inputs from IANS and ANI