Right to be forgotten: Karnataka High Court directs authorities to mask acquitted woman’s name from online records

In a landmark decision, the High Court of Karnataka has mandated search engines and judicial record-keepers to conceal the name of an acquitted woman from online records. The court highlighted the "right to be forgotten" in the digital age, stating that an accuser's name remaining visible online can cause significant civil consequences, often more severe than the original criminal proceedings.

The case involves an Iranian national who was one of four accused in a prostitution racket case prosecuted in 2013-14. All accused were acquitted in 2019 due to the police's lapses, including delayed registration of the First Information Report and insufficient evidence. The woman, who sought refugee status in Sweden after her acquittal, discovered her name linked to the acquitted crime during her online search, causing "grave prejudice" to her life and hindering her ability to secure employment.

The court emphasized that acquittal is not merely a procedural formality but a "solemn judicial declaration" of innocence, and that preventing such a declaration from having any meaningful impact on an individual's life would be unjust. Despite concerns raised regarding the potential "Pandora's box" opening, Justice M. Nagaprasanna affirmed that constitutional guarantees should not be rationed to prevent others from invoking them.