Chandigarh, March 5 —The Punjab and Haryana High Court ruled that past charges cannot be allowed to haunt a person once they have been cleared by the court, underlining the right to privacy and the right to be forgotten.
Justice NS Shekhawat stated that lingering accusations violate an individual’s dignity and constitutional protections.
“When a person has been exonerated, the remnants of such charges should not persist. This would be contrary to the right to privacy, which includes the right to be forgotten and the right to live with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution,” he said.
The ruling came in response to a petition filed by a corporate professional with over 20 years of experience in India and the US.
Represented by counsel Abhinav Gupta, the petitioner sought the removal of their name from the e-courts portal, citing job denials despite clearing interviews and receiving offers from multinational companies.
Taking note of the professional impact, the court directed the High Court Registry and concerned officials to remove the petitioner’s name from all court records and search results, replacing it with “ABCD.”
It also advised the petitioner to approach public search engines and social media platforms for further redaction.
“Whenever the petitioner applies or approaches any of these platforms, it is expected they would respect the ‘right to privacy’ and ‘right to be forgotten’ by removing any related material,” the order stated.
