Indian Kanoon filed a petition on July 10 challenging the Delhi High Court’s May 29 order that directed legal databases to de-index judgments and disable name-based search functions for certain court records. The order arose from a combined judgment covering 38 petitions, including one from an individual known as DG, who sought removal of his case details under the right to be forgotten doctrine, according to medianama.com.
The Delhi High Court’s ruling followed DG’s 2019 conviction in a cheque bounce case, which was later settled in 2022 for Rs 7.25 lakh. Despite the settlement, the original judgment remained searchable on Indian Kanoon’s platform. DG’s writ petition led the court to order removal of such records and restrict name-based search functionality across legal databases. Indian Kanoon’s petition raises nine arguments contesting this directive, as detailed in the petition accessed by medianama.com.
This case highlights tensions between public access to legal records and privacy rights under the right to be forgotten. The Delhi High Court’s order marks a notable application of this doctrine in India, impacting how legal databases operate. Indian Kanoon’s challenge could influence the balance between transparency and privacy in judicial data access, a subject of ongoing debate in legal and policy circles.
The Delhi High Court’s combined judgment addressed over 37 cases and set a precedent for de-indexing court records. Indian Kanoon’s petition filed on July 10 is now pending, with the outcome expected to clarify the scope of the right to be forgotten in Indian legal databases, as reported by medianama.com.