Telegram Moves Delhi High Court to Contest Government Temporary Ban Linked to NEET‑UG Retest

The ongoing crisis surrounding India’s national medical entrance exam has taken a dramatic digital turn. Dubai-based instant messaging giant Telegram has officially dragged the Indian government to court after New Delhi temporarily blocked the app nationwide. At the same time, the company's billionaire founder is crying foul, alleging a corporate conspiracy engineered by its biggest rival. 

Telegram Knocks on Delhi High Court’s Door

On Wednesday, Telegram’s legal team moved to the Delhi High Court to challenge an emergency block order issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Representing the tech firm, Advocate Madhav Khosla secured an urgent hearing before a vacation bench led by Justice Tejas Karia. 

Telegram’s primary argument hinges on proportionality. The platform claims that shutting down its entire operations punishes its massive base of over 150 million Indian users for the wrongdoings of a few bad actors. 

The Indian government has issued two mandates against Telegram: under Section 69A of the IT Act, the app faces a full restriction across India until June 22, while a separate directive imposes an edit‑feature freeze, banning users from editing previously posted messages until June 30.

The NEET-UG Connection: Why New Delhi Pulled the Plug

The government's crackdown is a direct response to the massive scandal surrounding the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG). Following widespread leaks and cheating syndicates that forced the cancellation of the original test, authorities scheduled a nationwide re-test for June 21. 

The National Testing Agency (NTA) flagged Telegram as a major security threat. Investigators discovered rogue channels, sporting names like “PAPER LEAKED NEET” and “Private Mafia”,  extorting lakhs of rupees from vulnerable students in exchange for fake or leaked question papers. 

More uniquely, the government took aim at Telegram’s structural design. Authorities pointed out that scammers frequently use the platform's retroactive "message-editing" feature to upload question papers after the exam concludes, modifying timestamps to fabricate artificial "proof" of an early leak to stir up public panic. 

Pavel Durov Alleges "BGP Hijacking" and Corporate Sabotage

While lawyers argue in Delhi, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has completely widened the battlefield. Taking to social media platform X, Durov levelled heavy accusations against Indian telecom giant Reliance and Meta-owned WhatsApp. 

Durov claims that Reliance has been actively sabotaging Telegram's network traffic. Crucially, he alleges this disruption isn't just inside India, but is actively spilling over to hurt millions of international users, including those in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

"Indian telecom Reliance is sabotaging access to Telegram for millions of users OUTSIDE India (including the UAE) via a rogue method called BGP hijacking," Durov stated online, adding that the telecom provider has repeatedly ignored internal technical reports. 

What is BGP Hijacking? 

Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is effectively the postal routing system of the global internet, determining the most efficient path for data to travel across global networks. In a hijacking scenario, a network operator accidentally or intentionally advertises illegitimate routes, effectively misdirecting global internet traffic down a dead-end or a rogue path. 

Durov stopped short of calling it a coincidence, directly pointing out that Meta- WhatsApp’s parent company, holds a partial stake in Reliance's digital wing. He alleged that both corporate giants have actively lobbied the Indian government to push for the current ban under the guise of the exam crisis. Reliance has yet to issue an official comment on the technical allegations. 

From a tech policy viewpoint, this is a watershed moment for intermediary liability in India. While the government's need to protect the academic integrity of millions of students is fully understandable, using a blanket, scorched-earth app ban under Section 69A sets a highly volatile precedent.

What makes this unique is MeitY’s second order targeting specific app architecture forcing Telegram to turn off its post-editing capabilities. It signals that New Delhi is no longer just looking to block URLs; it is now actively trying to regulate the operational UI features of global software inside domestic borders. With the re-exam set for this Sunday, all eyes remain pinned on how the Delhi High Court decides to balance national security against digital access.