On Thursday, the Delhi High Court started hearing on Telegram’s petition, which challenged the Central Government’s decision to impose a temporary ban on the messaging app before the NEET exam. A bench headed by Justice Tejas Karia heard the case. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared on behalf of the Centre. During the hearing, Solicitor General Mehta told the court that a review committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary heard the views of Telegram officials and placed them on record. The committee unanimously recommended maintaining the interim ban instructions. It is noteworthy that after the hearing on Telegram ban, Delhi High Court has reserved its decision.
**What arguments did Telegram give?**
Telegram had argued that the law does not permit the contradiction arising from this order. He said that if the basis of the ban is lost, then even the order will not be able to stand. The court took note of this and said that both aspects would be investigated. The platform also pointed out alleged legal flaws in the Centre’s order.
**Centre filed affidavit**
In an affidavit filed in the court, the Center accused Telegram of being increasingly used for many illegal activities, which include spreading leaked examination papers, cyber fraud, drug trafficking, sharing content related to extremist and terrorism, sexual exploitation of children, copyright piracy and financial scams.
Describing Telegram as the “new dark web”, the government emphasized its strong privacy features and said they make it difficult for law enforcement agencies to identify criminals. The affidavit also alleged that the platform is used to spread malware, facilitate cyber attacks, share stolen data, promote money laundering networks and gain unauthorized access to personal information through bots and channels. The Delhi High Court has asked Telegram to disclose the measures it has adopted for real-time monitoring and surveillance on its platform, especially to prevent the rapid spread of illegal content like leaked exam papers.
