Mask petitioner’s name in digital records, Karnataka HC tells registry

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has directed the registry to mask the name of a petitioner in the digital records in view of the closure report being filed in a case.

The petitioner was an accused in a case under the Pocso Act and the police had filed a closure report.  

“Right to oblivion; right to be forgotten are the principles evolved by the democratic nations, as one being a facet of right to informational privacy,” Justice M Nagaprasanna said.

The petitioner was named as an accused by the SS Puram police in Tumakuru district for offences under IPC sections 354A and 354B, and Section 12 of the Pocso Act in September 2021.

He was discharged on acceptance of the ‘B’ report resulting in the closure of the case. He moved the high court when the petitioner found his name in the digital records maintained in the criminal petition filed in the case before the high court.

The court cited the Apex Court’s Aadhaar judgment and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and said they recognise the right of erasure of personal data.

“Humans forget, but the internet does not forget and does not let humans forget. Therefore, the soul of the judgment of the Apex Court quoted supra is that the footprints in certain circumstances should not be permitted to remain, as it is an antithesis to the right to be forgotten,” the court said.

The court said that when orders of acquittal/discharge become final, it would be a travesty of the concept of life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, if the shadow of crime is permitted to continue in place of the shadow of dignity.

The Fourth Estate

“In the peculiar facts of the case, no fault can be found with such a demand. I deem it appropriate to observe that when identical demands are made by those accused or victims, as the case would be, accused who come within the circumstances narrated hereinbefore, the Fourth Estate should also consider masking, delisting and deleting their names from their respective digital records and not drive them to this court seeking such deletion,” the court said.

It further said, “However, it is made clear that mere erasure of the name of the petitioner in the cause title does not mean that he is entitled to seek such erasure from the police records. The direction would be only to enable the internet to forget, like humans forget. If it is allowed to stay on record, the internet will never permit humans to forget.”