Delhi High Court Seeks Google’s Response On De-Indexing Of Publications In Right To Be Forgotten Case

Hearing a doctor's plea seeking removal of news articles related to a criminal case registered against him in 1999, the Delhi High Court has sought response of Google as to whether de-indexing of publications can be done so that the URLs do not show up on search engine’s results.

Considering that the doctor stood discharged in the criminal complaint and in view of the fact that it is not clear if the original sessions court’s order is available on the internet, Justice Prathiba M Singh said:

“Let an affidavit be filed by Google as to whether de-indexation [of the URLs] can be done so that when the name of the petitioner is searched, the URLs do not show up. Let the affidavit be filed within two weeks.”

While listing the matter on May 18 along with a batch of similar petitions on the of right to be forgotten, the court also directed Union of India and other respondents to file their response to the petition.

The petitioner, a doctor by profession, is aggrieved by the articles published against him in 1999 which are currently available on online platforms. The articles are available through both online platform of the publishers and Google search results, according to the petitioner.

The petitioner has contended that although he has already been discharged in the the FIR, the articles still remain in public domain.

Reliance has been placed on an order passed by the trial court on August 04, 2009, to contend that there are findings to the effect that there is no evidence of the petitioner having engaged in any illegality.

The publications in the matter include British Medical Journal, The Lancet, iNCBI and Indian Paediatrics.

The petitioner has placed reliance on Justice Singh’s ruling in Jorawer Singh Mundy v. Union of India & Ors, wherein Google LLC and Google India Pvt. Ltd were directed to remove a judgment from their search results. 

However, during the hearing today, the court was of the view that the issue of de-indexing of content from google will have to be considered in the matter. 

The court also issued notice to the publications in question after observing, prima facie, that they have to be impleaded as party respondents in the matter.

Title: ABC v. Union of India & Ors.