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Judgment
AMIT MAHAJAN, J. (Oral)
By the present petition, the petitioner seeks the following reliefs:
A. Pass an Order issuing a writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ/order/direction directing the Respondent to mask the identity markers in Orders, including the Order dated 07.09.2021 passed in Crl.M.C. 1732/2021 and the Order dated 13.05.2021 passed in Crl. M.C. 1057/2021 as detailed in Ground C hereinabove and any other marker(s) as may be deemed appropriate and consequently upload such masked Order on the office website of this Hon'ble Court; and
B. Pass an Order permitting the Petitioner to approach all concerned third-party portals, intermediaries or public search engines, as identified or may be subsequently discovered, to host the masked version of Orders of Crl. MC No. 1732/2021 and Crl. MC No. 1057/2021, including the Order dated 07.09.2021 passed by this Hon'ble Court in Crl. M.C. No. 1732/2021 or any other material pertaining to the abovesaid proceedings wherein the said names and identity markers are reflected;”
Succinctly stated, two FIRs were registered on account of the untimely demise of the petitioner’s wife (hereafter ‘deceased’) on 31.12.2019. One FIR being FIR No. 13/2020 under Sections 498A/306/201/34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (‘IPC’) was registered at the instance of the deceased’s sister. The said FIR was quashed by this Court in CRL.M.C. 1732/2021 vide order dated 07.09.2021.
Another FIR being FIR No. 464/2020 was registered at Police Station Bharat Nagar under Sections 420/467/471 of the IPC at the instance of the deceased’s father. The said FIR being FIR No. 464/2020 was also quashed by this Court in CRL. M.C. 1057/2021 vide order dated 13.05.2021 on the ground of settlement between the parties.
The petitioner is essentially aggrieved that the said orders are readily available on the internet and on third party portals which is leading to undue harassment to the minor son of the petitioner and other family members. It is urged that once the FIRs have been quashed, no public interest would be served by its name based accessibility on the public domain.
The petitioner consequently seeks a direction to the respondent to mask the identity markers in the Orders, including the Order dated 07.09.2021 passed in CRL.M.C. 1732/2021 and the Order dated 13.05.2021 passed in CRL. M.C. 1057/2021 as detailed in Ground C of the present writ petition. The petitioner further beseeches this Court to grant permission to the petitioner to approach all concerned third-party portals, intermediaries or public search engines, as identified or may be subsequently discovered, to host the masked version of Orders of CRL. M.C. No. 1732/2021 and CRL. M.C. No. 1057/2021, including the Order dated 07.09.2021 passed by this Hon'ble Court in CRL. M.C. No. 1732/2021 or any other material pertaining to the said proceedings.
Admittedly, the criminal proceedings instituted by FIR No. 13/2020 and FIR No. 464/2020 already stand quashed pursuant to the orders passed by this Court on 07.09.2021 and 13.05.2021 respectively. Considering the fact that the criminal proceedings already stand quashed, this Court finds merit in the grievance highlighted by the petitioner.
Previously, this Court in the case of ABC v. State : 2024 SCC OnLine Del 8113, while directing masking of the name of the petitioner therein, had emphasised that the concept of right to privacy encapsulated the right to be forgotten. While doing so, this Court further observed as follows:
“11.It is well settled that the right to privacy is a fundamental right and forms an intrinsic part of Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The concept of right to privacy incorporates the right to be forgotten. In the age of internet, every piece of information that finds its way to the internet, gains permanence. The need to allow the masking of names of individuals acquitted of any offence or when criminal proceedings against such persons are quashed, emanates from the most basic notions of proportionality and fairness. While the access to information is a fundamental aspect of democracy, the same cannot be divorced from the need to balance the right to information of the public with the individual's right to privacy. This is especially when after the quashing of the proceedings, no public interest can be served by keeping the information alive on the internet. 12. There is no reason why an individual who has been duly cleared of any guilt by law should be allowed to be haunted by the remnants of such accusations easily accessible to the public. Such would be contrary to the individual's right to privacy which includes the right to be forgotten, and the right to live with dignity guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”
Considering the aforesaid, the respondent is directed to mask/remove the identity markers in the orders, including the order dated 07.09.2021 passed in CRL.M.C. 1732/2021 and the order dated 13.05.2021 passed in CRL. M.C. 1057/2021 as detailed in Ground C of the present writ petition.
The petitioner is additionally permitted to approach all concerned portals, public search engines or intermediaries to host the masked version of orders of CRL. M.C. No. 1732/2021 and CRL. M.C. No. 1057/2021 including the orders dated 07.09.2021 and 13.05.2021 respectively or any other material pertaining to the said proceedings wherein the said names and identity markers are reflected.
Whenever the petitioner would apply or approach any of the search engines, third party portals or intermediaries, it is expected that they would follow the principle of ‘right to be forgotten’ as noted hereinabove and mask any other material which may be on the record pertaining to the aforementioned cases wherein the said names and identity markers are reflected.
The present petition along with pending applications stand disposed of with the aforesaid directions.