this delhi high court Telegram on Thursday questioned government action against the platform, reserving its judgment after questioning whether problems in its architecture led authorities to invoke emergency powers.During the hearing, the judge told Telegram that the company appeared to be aware of structural issues related to its platform. The key question, the court said, was whether those concerns justified the authorities’ use of emergency powers.“It is disturbing that your structure is insufficient and that is why emergency powers are needed,” the judge observed.The center defended its actions, saying the matter involved public order issues related to alleged exam-related activities on the platform. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the potential harm was high as it affected the credibility of national-level examinations.“Students are understandably agitated. The overall credibility of national exams is compromised,” he told the court.The center said the restriction is temporary and reflects the appropriate exercise of thought. Talking about the order being valid till June 30, Mehta said the limited period showed that careful consideration was taken before taking action.Attorney General R Venkataramani also supported the government’s stand and said preventive action was necessary in such circumstances. The government further argued that no action was taken against other intermediaries because they had more robust filtering systems.Veteran advocate Dhruv Mehta appeared on Telegram to question the government’s reliance on material that was not part of the original communications posted to the platform. He argued that authorities could not later rely on additional material to justify the order.Telegram also disputes allegations of message editing and backdating. Mehta believes that while the message can be edited, the original timestamp will not be changed.“The timestamp doesn’t change. If you posted on June 21st, you can’t say it was posted on June 15th,” he submitted.The deputy attorney general responded that content such as PDF files can be altered and misused even if the timestamps remain unchanged.Telegram further said it was accused of failing to comply with legal obligations, but did not specify which rules were breached. After hearing the statements of both parties, the collegial panel retained the original verdict.Telegram on Tuesday moved the Delhi High Court challenging the Center’s decision to temporarily block access to the app ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination.
