Supreme Court to examine if accused has right to be forgotten & seek removal of judgments

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the Madras High Court's order which directed a law portal to pull down a judgment, for having revealed the identity of a person acquitted in a sexual assault case, since it was a part of the public record.

The matter concerned the right to be forgotten of an accused.

Observing that such an order will have "serious ramifications" a bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said the court would examine whether an accused has the right to be forgotten and if he can seek removal of judgments, and having his name, from the public domain.

The court stayed the order the High Court's order, directing the law portal, 'India Kanoon' to remove from its website the verdict. 

In March, the High Court had directed the portal to take down the copy of the judgment which revealed the identity of a person acquitted in a sexual assault case.

Considering the issue raised in the matter, the bench said the judgments are part of public records and the orders for their removal by the courts will have serious ramifications.

"We will have to settle the law…issue notice, in the meantime the directions of Madras High Court shall remain stayed," the bench said.

During the hearing, the bench emphasised that once a judgment is delivered, it becomes part of the public record.

The "India Kanoon" portal challenged legality of the Madras High Court order, which had said that though the courts were expected to preserve data as a court of record, there is a need to strike a balance between the collection of such data and the protection of a person's personal data.