NEW DELHI: A contentious battle over privacy rights has landed in the Delhi High Court, where an IIM-Calcutta graduate has filed a petition, seeking enforcement of his “right to be forgotten” after personal details from a court order in his matrimonial case were widely published online.
The petition, filed by Cherthala Taluk, a Kerala resident, is slated for hearing this Friday. Represented by advocates Renjith Marar, Tarini Nayak, and Aaditya Mishra, Taluk argues that the publication of the judgment violated his fundamental right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The judgment in question, delivered on March 15, 2021, stemmed from a contempt case Taluk filed against his ex-wife. The Delhi High Court had held his ex-wife guilty of violating a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) the couple signed as part of their mutual divorce in 2015. However, the order included personal identifiers, which were subsequently published by several websites without redaction.
Taluk claims that this unfiltered publication has caused severe damage to his dignity and privacy, with the content still accessible in the public domain. Despite repeated appeals to remove the information, website operators provided unsatisfactory responses, prompting the filing of the writ petition.
Taluk’s marriage in 2013 ended in discord, leading to the signing of an MoU that required him to pay Rs 20 lakh as alimony. However, his wife’s failure to file for the second motion of divorce led him to pursue a contempt case in 2017.
Access to personal data
The plea hinges on the evolving concept of “right to be forgotten,” recognised as part of the right to privacy. This principle seeks to allow individuals to have personal data removed from public access when its dissemination causes harm or serves no public interest
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