'Right To Be Forgotten': Delhi Court Directs Indian Kanoon, Media To Remove Articles On PMLA Accused After His Exoneration

In a john doe order, a Delhi Court has recently directed legal search engine Indian Kanoon, various media outlets and Google LLC to remove articles and URLs related to a money laundering accused after his complete exoneration in the case, citing his right to be forgotten.

Principal District & Sessions Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna said that the man has a right to live with dignity and the articles published with his name cannot be allowed to perpetually remain on online platforms.

The judge said that permanence of digital information and easily accessible online records were causing potential harm to him, despite his exoneration from the case.

“The information serves no purpose other than that it is detrimental to the plaintiff's reputation. In my opinion, no public interest is served by keeping online information about an individual after criminal proceedings have come to an end and individual has been cleared of guilt,” the Court said.

The defendants are ANI Media, Indian Express, The Printline Media, HT Media, Times Internet, Benett Coleman & Company Limited, NDTV, THG Publishing, Indian Kanoon, Google LLC and John Doe (unknown entities).

The judge allowed the interim injunction filed by a real estate professional, who was accused in relation to the Moser Baer money laundering case registered in 2019. He was arrested in 2023, and was discharged in 2024 on merits.

In his suit, the man sought removal of the links alleging that they were defamatory and disparaging. It was his case that the phrases used in the URLs were demeaning and that the articles continued to remain accessible and available across the world wide web at the single click from the search engine.

Granting him relief, the Court said that the articles impacted his integrity and reputation in an adverse manner. No case is pending against the plaintiff and he stands exonerated of all the charges levelled by Directorate of Enforcement, the judge noted.

“The right to live with dignity and to have peace of mind are integral to the right to life and liberty under the constitution,” the Court observed.

The judge, as an interim measure, restrained all the defendants from publishing, re-publishing, or circulating any further content in relation to him concerning the ED case.

The defendants have further been directed to de-index, de-list, and de-reference the URLs links and content of the articles in question, till the disposal of the suit.

“All the defendants are directed to block/ delete the URL Links relating to the plaintiff as detailed in para 15 (i) of the plaint from being accessed by using search engines till the disposal of the main suit,” the Court said.