Telegram did not take proactive measure against ‘illegal, suspicious channels’: Centre tells Delhi HC

The center asked many times Telegram Chief Justice of India Tushar Mehta submitted to the Delhi High Court on Thursday (June 18, 2026) that the messaging app should take proactive measures to check illegal and suspicious channels, adding that “nothing” has been done in the matter.

The hearing took place a day after the Supreme Court notified the Union government about the petition filed by the platform challenging the Centre’s decision to suspend access to its services in India till June 22, citing concerns linked to the conduct of the NEET-UG re-examination.

Joining the hub, Mr Mehta said most channels on the platform were bots. “On Telegram, one account can create 40 bots. On WhatsApp, there is one bot per user,” he said, citing a report by the Indian Cyber ​​Crime Coordination Center (I4C). The report says TelegramThe government presentation noted that its platform, unlike other similar messaging apps, is not competent enough to deal with something like the current situation.

He noted that the platform works via cloud infrastructure. “Those who commit crimes cannot be followed.”

“Telegram has faced acts of terrorism by other countries. Other countries have also taken action on the platform due to its objectionable use,” he said, adding that the government has presented a list of measures to be taken against it. Telegram by other countries.

“Approximately 100,000 inhabitants of one channel can be moved to another channel in seconds. This is specific to Telegram and poses a serious risk,” Mr. Mehta added.

Can the court block users’ rights to protect someone else’s rights?

During the hearing, the Court questioned the government’s argument and asked whether the rights of those using the app could be restricted “because some people misuse the app.”

“Can you prevent someone else’s rights to protect someone else’s rights?” he asked

To this, Mr. Mehta said: “When the Internet is banned in a State or a part of a State, there are only 10% of those with bad intentions and the rest are the general public.”

He also argued that: Telegram‘s feature that allows date and time editing may cause the application to be misused. “This happened in 2024. The question paper was posted after the exam was held, but they shifted the date to the previous day of the exam and students staged protests on the roads, claiming that the paper was leaked.”

The problem is caused by the temporary suspension of the Center Telegram Amid concerns that organized cheating networks involved in the NEET-UG controversy are using the messaging app to distribute leaked or fabricated question papers and coordinate fraudulent activities.

The restrictions have been issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act and will remain in force until June 22. A separate regulation also requires: Telegram To disable editing of previously sent messages by June 30.