New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to file its response on a petition filed by Telegram against the government’s order temporarily restricting access to the messaging app ahead of the June 21 NEET-UG 2026 re-examination.HC seeks Centre’s response on plea against telegram restrictionsAs the matter came up before a single-judge bench of Justice Tejas Karia, Telegram’s counsel claimed the curbs were illegal, but Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta defended the government action, saying the platform was being misused and he would reveal “something shocking” on Thursday.“If the court posts the matter tomorrow, then 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. This is continuous,” Mehta submitted.The court posted the matter for further hearing on Thursday and issued notice to the Centre.The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), acting on recommendations of the National Testing Agency (NTA), issued the order on June 16 under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, restricting access to Telegram in India until June 22, and also disabling the platform’s message-editing feature until June 30, according to an NTA statement.Appearing for Telegram, advocates Madhav Khosla, Abhi Udai Singh Gautam and Roshni Ojha argued that the government’s order was arbitrary and issued with “non-application of mind”.“There is not a whisper by the Centre of the action taken by us against errant users. The designated officer of the Centre says we have done nothing. The platform has done proactive steps to block channels or groups,” the counsels submitted.They argued that the restriction affects over 150 million users and businesses operating on the platform, and amounts to a disproportionate curb on free speech and expression.