The central government told the Delhi High Court on Thursday that messaging platform Telegram has effectively become a "new dark web".

The remarks were made in a counter affidavit filed in response to Telegram's petition challenging the government's decision to temporarily restrict access to the platform ahead of the June 21 NEET-UG retest.

According to a report by Bar & Bench, the government argued that the scale of activity on Telegram itself demonstrated its ability to facilitate the widespread circulation of unlawful examination-related material.


"Telegram has become the new dark web, linking threat actors. Criminals have rapidly adopted Telegram to post links on channels that connect to dark web forums through deep web links, making it hard for authorities to track and attribute criminals," the affidavit stated, according to the report.

"When such information becomes repetitive and rampant, the only option is to block all information hosted by the intermediary, since technically it is not possible to segregate the unlawful content from the lawful content," the government added.

The matter came up before the Delhi High Court on Wednesday when Telegram challenged the legality of the blanket blocking order. Senior advocate Dhruv Mehta, appearing for Telegram, told the court that more than 150 million users had been impacted by the restriction.

Justice Tejas Karia sought the government's response and directed it to submit supporting documents that led to the blocking order by Thursday, even as it declined to grant immediate relief to Telegram.

According to Times of India, the Centre defended the temporary ban and said it had “shocking” material that would justify its decision.

It maintained that the order had been issued under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. It also informed the court that a post-decisional hearing had already taken place before the designated nodal agency, with Telegram representatives participating, and that a fresh order was expected.

The hearing saw both sides present sharply different views on the necessity of the restriction.

"We shudder to imagine a situation where there is public unrest," Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the government, told the bench of Justice Karia, according to the TOI report

Meanwhile, Telegram's counsel Mehta said, "There are 150 million users in the country. You block everything. Article 14 is completely violated.”

Telegram's lawyers also argued that the company had already complied with government requests to remove specific channels and content, adding that no emergency had been recorded by the government to justify the ban.

The company argued that the restriction failed to consider the platform's legitimate uses. Students rely on Telegram for study material, educators use it to communicate with learners, and businesses use it for day-to-day operations, its counsel said.

Telegram added that it had held multiple meetings with government officials since June 1 and had acted whenever authorities flagged specific channels for removal.

Responding to those submissions, the Solicitor General said the government possessed material that would be presented before the court.

"If the court will hear us tomorrow, there is something shocking I can show. One channel starts, it is prohibited, and then another is started. And with a QR code, you can make a payment for questions," Mehta had argued.