New Delhi [India], June 19 : Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav on Friday reacted to the Delhi High Court's dismissal of Telegram's plea against the Centre's temporary ban during the NEET re-examination, stating that the government must find "permanent solutions" to such issues.
Speaking to ANI, the Delhi Congress chief said that while the government should take necessary legal measures, it should also focus on addressing the pressing issues of inflation and unemployment.
"I believe that if there is any issue, there should be a permanent solution for it. Whatever legal measures the government needs to take for it, they should take. But there should be relief from unemployment of youth and inflation, which the nation is suffering from," Yadav said.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court dismissed Telegram's plea challenging the Centre's temporary blocking order imposed in connection with the NEET re-examination.
Justice Tejas Karia observed that the reasons recorded by the government for blocking the platform were sufficient in the circumstances and rejected Telegram's contention that the order suffered from procedural irregularities or lack of adequate reasons.
"After considering all the arguments, we find that given the emergency nature, the reasons supplied are sufficient and the government has followed the procedure under Section 69A," the Court held while upholding the Centre's action.
The Court further ruled that both the original blocking order and the subsequent decision of the Review Committee were reasoned orders that reflected due application of mind by the authorities.
"The orders are well-founded and supported by reasons. The orders do not suffer from non-application of mind," Justice Karia observed.
Rejecting Telegram's argument that the blocking order was disproportionate, the Court accepted the Centre's stand that the temporary restriction was a narrowly tailored measure aimed at preventing misuse of the platform during the conduct of the NEET re-examination.
"The government's measures are least restrictive. It cannot be held that the order is. disproportionate," the Court said.
The High Court also turned down Telegram's submission that an entire platform could not be blocked under Section 69A because the provision speaks of blocking "information" and not an intermediary itself. The Court held that there was no basis in the Information Technology Act to exclude a platform from the scope of the expression "information."
"We have also held that under the IT Act there is no reason to exclude the platform from the ambit of 'information'," the Court observed.
In view of these findings, the Court dismissed Telegram's challenge and declined to interfere with the temporary blocking order issued by the Central Government.