A series of petitions before the Kerala HC sought the removal of court orders from the Indian Kanoon website by claiming the ‘right to be forgotten’. Indian Kanoon argued that ‘the right to be forgotten’ is not absolute and that it is inconsistent with the principle of open courts. The Kerala HC ruled in the favour of Indian Kanoon and struck a balance between the right to privacy and the right to freedom of information by holding that the ‘right to be forgotten’ cannot be exercised in criminal law cases and current/recent cases. Though it could be exercised on a case-to-case basis with respect to matrimonial/family cases etc.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://internetfreedom.in/kerala-high-court-protects-the-right-to-access-court-records/