Platform-wide blocking under Section 69A IT Act is proportionate where granular content removal is technically ineffective.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) informed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on 21.05.2026 regarding the misuse of the Telegram application for fraud related to the NEET UG 2026 examination

Despite meetings and the removal of specific URLs by the Petitioners, MeitY found that fraudulent channels continued to re-emerge through bots and backup accounts

On 16.06.2026, MeitY issued an interim order under Section 69A of the IT Act blocking Telegram across India until 22.06.2026—the period covering the scheduled re-examination on 21.06.2026—and disabling its message-editing feature until 30.06.2026

This interim order was confirmed by a final order on 18.06.2026 following a hearing by the Rule 7 Committee

1. Whether the Impugned Order passed by Respondent No. 1 is vitiated by non-application of mind?

2. Whether the action of Respondent No. 1 in temporarily blocking public access to the entire Telegram platform satisfies the requirement of proportionality?

Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which empowers the Central Government to block public access to "any information" in the interest of public order or to prevent incitement to cognizable offences

Section 2(1)(v) to include codes, computer programmes, and software, thereby encompassing entire platforms

Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009, specifically Rule 9 regarding emergency interim blocking

Doctrine of proportionality as established in Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India, which requires a legitimate goal, a rational nexus, necessity (the "least restrictive measure"), and a balancing of rights

the court found the orders well-reasoned, noting they were based on specific reports from the NTA and I4C regarding systemic fraud that rendered channel-by-channel takedowns ineffective

The emergency nature of the interim order justified the timing of the reasons, which were subsequently expanded upon in the post-decisional hearing and final order

Telegram’s unique architecture—including cloud-based storage, massive group sizes, and "backdating scams" facilitated by the message-editing feature—created a high risk to the integrity of a national sovereign exam

The court reasoned that since narrower measures (individual channel blocking) had failed and the restriction was strictly time-bound to the exam window, the platform-wide block was the "least restrictive measure" remaining to protect the interests of 2.2 million candidates and preserve public order

Section 69A of the IT Act is broad enough to include software applications under the definition of "information"

temporary, event-linked blocking was a proportionate response to a documented threat to public order and examination integrity

the Writ Petition and pending applications were dismissed