[Name Redacted] v. Registrar General

Case Law
Country
Country Location

Latitude: 23.078537445745496

Longitude: 78.60363571015989

Country Location (linked Case Law)
India
Decision Date
Jan 23, 2017
Case Status
Closed
Case Outcome (Procedural)
  • Motion Granted
Case Outcome (Disposition)
  • Access Restriction/Content Regulation/Information Control
Keywords
  • Data Protection and Retention
  • Privacy
  • Right to be Forgotten
  • Search Engines
Judicial Body
First Instance Court
Court Name
High Court of Karnataka
Case Number
2017 SCC OnLine Kar 424
Case Summary

The High Court of Karnataka, Bangalore, India ruled that the Court Registry should redact the name of a wife from the order confirming the withdrawal of criminal charges she had laid against her husband. After a wife had initiated various legal proceedings against her husband the two agreed on a compromise and obtained a court order quashing all charges. However, the wife’s name was prominent on that order and the online version of the court order would appear when her name was searched on internet search engines, which could jeopardize her relationship with her husband and her reputation. The High Court acknowledged the “right to be forgotten”, particularly in cases involving sensitive issues of modesty and reputation, and ordered that the wife’s name be redacted from all online versions of the order.

Although the Court recognized the right to be forgotten and so balanced the rights to access to information and privacy, the Court based its decision on outdated notions of women’s modesty instead of taking the opportunity to engage with the right to be forgotten as part of the constitutionally-protected right to privacy.

The decision establishes a binding or persuasive precedent within its jurisdiction. As a judgment of the High Court of Karnataka, the judgment is binding on all authorities and lower courts in Karnataka.

Related Caselaw (self)
Related Law
Source URL
Global Freedom of Expression
Collection
  • Columbia
Date Updated
Jul 3, 2024