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MADURAI: As a simple Google-search can make or mar a person’s character, his/her name should be redacted (obscured for legal or security purposes) from judgments if he/she is acquitted in a criminal case, Madras high court has observed.
Invoking an individual’s right to privacy and the right to be forgotten, Justice N Anand Venkatesh said a Google-search would bring up court judgments, and a person’s name would be shown against alleged crimes even after he was acquitted of all judgments. However, considering the deep ramifications a redact order would bring along, the high court has chosen to hear the views of members of the Bar, including the prosecution, before passing a detailed order on the issue.
A man who was tried for rape and cheating, was convicted and sentenced by a trial court in 2011, but he was acquitted of all charges by the high court in 2014. He has now approached the high court for redacting his name from the judgment.
Justice Anand Venkatesh observed that the petitioner is now facing a peculiar problem as his name gets reflected in the judgment as an accused, though he was acquitted of all charges.
Invoking an individual’s right to privacy and the right to be forgotten, Justice N Anand Venkatesh said a Google-search would bring up court judgments, and a person’s name would be shown against alleged crimes even after he was acquitted of all judgments. However, considering the deep ramifications a redact order would bring along, the high court has chosen to hear the views of members of the Bar, including the prosecution, before passing a detailed order on the issue.
A man who was tried for rape and cheating, was convicted and sentenced by a trial court in 2011, but he was acquitted of all charges by the high court in 2014. He has now approached the high court for redacting his name from the judgment.
Justice Anand Venkatesh observed that the petitioner is now facing a peculiar problem as his name gets reflected in the judgment as an accused, though he was acquitted of all charges.
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