The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed messaging platform Telegram’s appeal against the Indian government’s order temporarily blocking it ahead of a nationwide medical exam retest.
In the ruling, Delhi High Court Judge Tejas Karia held that the measures the government adopted were proportionate and had strictly followed the legal procedure.
The court’s ruling means that the messaging app will remain blocked till June 22.
Because of the ban on Telegram, the app is now offline and unavailable on app stores. This has prompted the most high-profile court tussle between a global tech giant and the Indian government this year.
Telegram challenged the government’s account of the meetings in its court filing, calling it “one-sided and inaccurate” and saying it “deliberately” omitted details of the company’s proactive processes.
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Telegram has said it took down more than 900 links involving unlawful exam-related content.
Why did the Indian government block Telegram?
India will conduct the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) medical entrance test that students need to qualify to gain admission to medical colleges across India, on Sunday.
The exam is being held a month after its results were canceled due to allegations that the questions were leaked in advance.
The government blocked Telegram this week by India’s IT ministry over concerns about channels on the app claiming to have questions from the upcoming exam for sale.
Even if the questions were fake, that would defraud candidates, the government said.
Telegram has seen rapid growth in India, making the country its biggest market by downloads, though WhatsApp remains the dominant messaging platform.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery
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