Delhi High Court Recognizes Right to Be Forgotten

The Delhi High Court has recognized the right to be forgotten as an integral part of the fundamental right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution. In a judgment released in early June 2026, Justice Sachin Datta established a framework allowing individuals acquitted of crimes or parties to settled civil and matrimonial disputes to seek the de-indexing of their names from search engines and the masking of personal identifiers in court records.

The court ruled that perpetual name-based digital searchability causes disproportionate harm to an individual's dignity and reputation. Consequently, the court ordered search engines including Google and the legal database Indian Kanoon to disable name-based search functionality for eligible individuals globally. To preserve the principle of open justice, the court clarified that records remain accessible via case numbers, citations, or court details.

Relief was granted to 35 of 39 petitioners, but denied to public figures and those involved in breaches of public trust or offenses against women and children. The Government of India, Google, Indian Kanoon, and xAI opposed the petitions, arguing that judicial judgments are public records. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology was tasked with ensuring compliance within two weeks.