Delhi High Court Directs Indian Kanoon To Mask Name Of Man Acquitted In Rape Case, Asks It To Disclose Its Policy On Right To Be Forgotten

The Delhi High Court recently directed Indian Kanoon to mask the name of a 29-year-old man who was acquitted in a rape case in 2018

Justice Prathiba M Singh was hearing the plea moved by the man seeking masking of his name in the judgment acquitting him in the FIR filed under section 376 and 506 of Indian Penal Code, 1860. The trial court in July 2018 acquitted him of all charges.

“…since the judgment is openly available on the Indian Kanoon website and is also accessible through any web search including Google Search, till the next date of hearing it is directed that the name of the Petitioner shall be masked on the Indian Kanoon portal. In effect, therefore, if the said judgment becomes visible in a search result or google search, the name would also not be visible,” the court said while listing the matter on October 05.

The court also directed the web portal to place on record an affidavit stating its policy in respect of the right to be forgotten as well as regarding masking of names in similar cases including judgments and orders of the High Court and trial courts.

Justice Singh also directed the respondents including Union of India to file their response to the plea.

The petitioner told the court that as per the trial court judgment, the prosecutrix’s testimony was held to be not trustworthy and was found to be not corroborated on material points with the testimony of other prosecution witnesses, which led to his acquittal. He said he has been made to suffer "immensely" due to the existence of the judgment on the internet.

Perusing the judgment, the court said: “A perusal of the judgment would show that no case was made out against the Petitioner beyond reasonable doubt. In fact, the Court has held the testimony of the prosecutrix as being not trustworthy.”

Title: SK v. Union of India & Ors.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 488

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