Can't remove court orders under IT Act: Centre to HC

One-liner: The Centre has told the Delhi High Court that the provisions of the Information Technology Act do not provide for the removal of court orders passed against a person on account of his right to be forgotten.

Right to privacy: The Centre said that while the right to privacy is a fundamental one and includes the right to be forgotten, any direction for the removal of court orders has to be directly passed by the HC to the intermediary and the platform on which they are uploaded.

Need to know: Two businessmen sought the removal of certain content from various online platforms in relation to a criminal case against them, but the court said the IT Act provides for blocking the information but it does not apply in the present case.

• The petitioners sought the removal of court orders from certain online platforms on the ground that despite being discharged in a criminal case in 2016, information was available on the Internet due to which they faced social stigma

Data protection bill: The Centre said that in order to protect its citizens and their privacy, the govt of India has brought out the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 which contains provisions related to the doctrine of right to be forgotten

Right to delink: It had said the petitioners have a right to be forgotten or a right to delink in the context of the facts and circumstances of the case and they have a right to ask the authorities to remove all the links related to them on the search index.

Source: PTI