Telegram challenges Centre’s temporary ban in Delhi High Court

Messaging platform Telegram on Wednesday challenged before the Delhi High Court the Union government’s decision to ban it in India till the undergraduate National Eligibility cum Entrance Test is held, Bar and Bench reported.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology restricted access to Telegram till June 22, a day after the re-examination of the entrance test for medical college admissions concludes.

The ministry also directed the platform, under the Information Technology Rules, to disable its message-editing feature till June 30. The National Testing Agency, which conducts the exam, alleged that the feature was used “to fabricate after-the-event ‘paper leak’ evidence”.

The exam was conducted on May 3, but was cancelled following allegations of a paper leak.

Violates right to equality, says Telegram

The court agreed to hear the matter. The counsel for the platform told the bench that more than 150 million users have been affected by the blocking order, Live Law reported.

Telegram argued that the Union government had singled the platform, violating Article 14 of the Constitution that guarantees the right to equality.

The government’s decision is based on an “impermissible premise that misuse by a subset of users justifies blocking of an entire platform”, the company contended.

“Such an approach, if upheld, would enable indiscriminate suspension of digital platforms, severely undermining constitutional protections of free speech and access to information,” Bar and Bench quoted the plea as having argued.

Telegram submitted that it had held several meetings with government agencies since May, when the test was cancelled, and provided responses outlining the measures it had taken. It said that it had taken down more than 900 links related to the competitive exam.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov said on Tuesday that the government order was punishing ordinary users and “not the insiders who leaked” the exam papers.

“And the ban hasn’t stopped anything,” Durov said on social media. “The leaks just moved to other apps.”

Banning the platform, even temporarily, was “a mistake”, he added.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said that the Narendra Modi government’s decision to ban the application was like “locking the victim’s door instead of catching the thief”.

“Millions of students have been studying on Telegram for years – notes, test series, discussions, preparation,” Gandhi said on social media. “How does snatching that facility become the solution to paper leaks?”

The Congress leader said that the ban was not foolproof and that it was known by “every student in the country” and the “paper leak mafia”.

He asked if similar messaging platform WhatsApp would be banned next. “Modi ji – drop the theatrics. Strike at the mafia, not the students,” he added.

The NEET case

More than 22 lakh candidates had appeared for the May 3 test. However, the exam was cancelled after the Rajasthan Special Operations Group began investigating allegations that a “guess paper” circulated before the examination contained questions closely matching the actual paper.

The “guess paper” contained around 410 questions, of which about 120 matched the questions asked in the chemistry section, according to the Rajasthan Police.

The Central Bureau of Investigation filed a first information report in the matter based on a complaint by the Union education ministry. It has invoked charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust, the Prevention of Corruption Act and the 2024 Public Examinations Prevention of Unfair Means Act.

The Opposition and the Cockroach Janta Party, a political campaign, has been demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation for the alleged mismanagement in holding competitive exams.

The 2024 examination was also hit by allegations of paper leaks and irregular grace marks, leading to nationwide protests.

Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.