Right to be forgotten: SC to examine if accused can seek removal of judgments from public domain after acquittal

New Delhi, July 24

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine the scope and ambit of the right to be forgotten after an accused sought removal of judgments containing his name from the public domain.

Noting that it will have “serious ramifications”, a Bench led CJI DY Chandrachud stayed a Madras High Court judgment that had asked a law portal to remove from its website a verdict acquitting the accused in a rape case.

“How can a court order this? To say that the judgment, a public document, be pulled down will have very serious ramifications,” said the Bench, taking note of the submissions of Ikanoon Software Development Pvt Ltd, a Bengaluru-based legal website.

In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court on August 24, 2017, declared the right to privacy a fundamental right under the Constitution, saying it was “the constitutional core of human dignity”.

“The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III (which deals with Fundamental Rights) of the Constitution,” a nine-judge Constitution Bench headed by the then CJI JS Khehar had ruled in a unanimous verdict.

However, the Constitution Bench had clarified that like other fundamental rights, the right to privacy was not absolute and any encroachment will have to withstand the touchstone of permissible restrictions. A law to survive a challenge on the ground of violation of Article 21 must be fair, just and reasonable, it had noted.