Supreme Court Asks Wikipedia To Remove Name Of Victim In RG Kar Hospital Rape-Murder Case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (September 17) directed Wikipedia to remove from its pages the name of the victim in the RG Kar Medical College Hospital rape-murder case.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwal and Manoj Misra passed the direction in the suo motu case taken by the Supreme Court over the crime.

During the hearing, the Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, informed the bench that Wikipedia still carried the name and the photograph of the victim. One counsel told the bench that when Wikipedia was told to remove the name, they refused, saying "they can't be censored." SG said that it was not "censoring" as the law required the identity of a rape victim to be kept anonymous.

The bench noted that had earlier passed a direction on August 20 to remove the name and photos of the victim from all social media and electronic media platforms.

The bench directed Wikipedia to comply with this direction. "In the interest of maintaining dignity and privacy of the deceased the governing principle is that identity of victim in a rape and murder case shall not be disclosed," the bench observed.

Regarding the picture, the bench was told that it was not the actual photo of the victim but an artistic impression used for representative purposes.

Another counsel informed the bench that the article cited in the footnote of the Wikipedia page has the photograph of the victim. CJI said that while editing the order, the bench will take care of this issue.

Live updates from today's hearing can be read here.