Delhi High Court Grants Time To Amicus Curiae For Filing Note On Removal Of Objectionable Content Of Woman From Internet, Role Of Intermediaries

The Delhi High Court has granted ten days time to amicus curiae Senior Advocate Saurabh Kirpal for filing a note on the aspect as to how the objectionable content with regards to a woman can be removed from the internet.

Justice Subramonium Prasad was dealing with a plea filed by a woman seeking directions on the Centre to block websites operating as pornographic sites under pseudo names. The plea also sought specific directions on the respondents to block any nude, sexually explicit or morphed photos of the woman appearing on their sites.

The development came after Kirpal, after recently being appointed as the amicus, sought time to file the relevant guidelines framed under the Information Technology Act on the aspect. Time was also sought to file the said note as to how the content can be removed from the internet and the role of various intermediaries like Google, Microsoft Edge etc.

"Mr. Sidhant Kumar Marwah, learned counsel assisting Mr. Saurabh Kripal, learned Senior Advocate is directed to file the relevant rules, guidelines and the note of the learned Amicus Curiae within ten days with an advance copy to all the parties," the Court thus ordered.

The Court had earlier asked the Centre, Google, YouTube and Delhi Police Cyber Cell to take steps for removing links or sites carrying objectionable photos and videos of the woman from the internet.

The matter will now be heard on November 25.

The High Court had earlier this year held that photographs taken from Facebook and Instagram accounts uploaded on pornographic website without the consent of such person amounts to an offence under sec. 67 of the IT Act and that such an act, even if the photographs are not in itself obscene of offensive, without the consent of the party would amount to breach of person's privacy.

The Court also held that for an order directing the removal or access disablement of offending content to be effective even within India, a search engine must block the search results throughout the world since no purpose would be served by issuing such an order if it has no realistic prospect of preventing irreparable harm to a litigant.

Title: MRS X v. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS

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