New Delhi, June 18 -- The Centre on Thursday strongly defended its decision to temporarily block Telegram in India till June 22, telling the Delhi High Court that the messaging platform's unique architecture had made it a vehicle for organised cheating networks during the NEET re-examination process and that the government's preventive action was fully justified.

Appearing for the Union Government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Attorney General R Venkataramani argued that the challenge mounted by Telegram was misplaced and that the temporary restriction was necessary to safeguard the integrity of a national-level examination affecting lakhs of students.

Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma and Advocate Ashish Dixit appeared f...