Right to be Forgotten and its impact on Freedom of Speech and Expression + Right to Information
Section 20 of the Bill explicitly provides the “Right To be Forgotten” now the question comes whether the Right to be Forgotten is having an overriding effect on Fundamental Rights? The section itself clarifies that the deciding factors for obtaining an order from adjudicating authority is that it should not give an overriding effect to the Freedom of Speech and expression plus Right to Information (RTI). The adjudicating authority shall while making an order have regard to the other factors as well and they are-
- The sensitivity of the Personal Data
- The scale of disclosure & the degree of accessibility asked to be forgotten.
- Role of Data Principal in public life.
- The relevance of the personal data to the public
- The nature of disclosure and the activities of Data Fiduciary
The Bill provides that any aggrieved person by the order of adjudicating authority may prefer any appeal to the appellate tribunal.
Indian Court of Justice & Right to be Forgotten:
So far the below three judgements are the landmark ones in the Indian privacy contexts. We will briefly discuss them and also will discuss the recent ruling of Delhi High Court which celebrated the Right to Be forgotten.
Dharmraj Bhanushankar Dave v. State of Gujarat & Ors. (C/SCA/1854/2015)
In this case the Petitioner was seeking permanent restraint of public exhibition of the judgement and order passed against the Petitioner under the proceedings for various offences in the past. Though the Petitioner was acquitted by the sessions court as well as from the High Court in those offences. The Petition brought its grief before the Hon’ble High Court and argued that despite declaring the judgment “unreportable” but the copies of the judgement was available on the search engine at various sites therefore, the same has affected the personal & professional life of the Petitioner.
The Hon’ble High Court observed the followings-
- The High Court is a court of Record
- The High Court rules provides for the access of judgement or proceedings
- The publishing of any judgement or proceeding on a website would come under the realm of “reportable” as understood in the context of judgements reported in a law reporter.
By stating the above reasonings and observation, the Hon’ble High Court did not recognise the Right to be Forgotten.
Thereafter, a second case of the similar species with different facts came up in 2016 before the Karnataka High Court in 2016 in the case of Sri Vasunathan Vs. The Registrar General (WP 2016)
A father of a married woman approached the Hon’ble court saying that an Online search engine reveals the name of his daughter which had connections in those legal disputes and contented that such search result is affecting the personal life and public image of his daughter.
The Hon’ble High Court observed the followings–
- That is serious trepidation and such search results have seriously impacted her relations with her husband, her social life, and public image.
- The Plea was accepted by the court to mask the name of his daughter.
The court in this case held that in line with the trend in western countries where it is followed as a matter rule “Right to be Forgotten” in sensitive cases especially involving women in general and highly sensitive cases of rape, outraging modesty of women etc.
As a result, if you check the name of this case on the Online portal it says (Name redacted Vs. The Registrar General).
Our Analysis in the above two judgments.
Aren’t two contradictory judgements wherein one was protected and another denied the protection amounts an inequality in itself? definitely, facts are different in both the cases but yet the main object of law is to promote the welfare of citizens/persons/humans hence, therefore, uniformity is the key to serve the best. Particular area/subject of law without statutes is definitely living in the darkness but bad precedent kills the society and non-uniformity brings chaos in the legal system, indeed one may feel to be treated as a stepchild.
We move on in our life and try to forget the bad things which have passed because sinners may become saints. Reformation is the idea of welfare society; don’t you think the internet also should forget the past too?
SPECIAL MENTION
The Recent Celebration Time
I would definitely don’t want to forget mentioning the recent judgement wherein the right to be forgotten was celebrated by Hon’ble Justice Pratibha Singh.
In the case of Jorawer Singh Mundy Vs. Union of India (Delhi High Court) directed Google, Indian Kanoon to remove or block a judgement of American Citizen who was acquitted under the NDPS case. The object of mentioning this judgement was only that to give an idea to our readers that if you co relate the precedents and statutes you would be able to understand any kind of law. Once my Master said law is nothing but common sense, reading one judgment must be a routine for each lawyer who is aspiring to have a great legal career. (Read the judgement here- https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/16186364774292021-393948.pdf)
References-
https://spectrum.ieee.org (Picture Credit)