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Before The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court: W.P (MD) .No.12015 of 2021
Before The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court: W.P (MD) .No.12015 of 2021
IN
W.P(MD).No.12015 of 2021
RESERVED ON : 27.07.2021
PRONOUNCED ON : 03.08.2021
CORAM:
.Vs.
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Prayer: Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, for
issuance of a Writ of Mandamus, to direct the Respondents No.1 to 3 to redact
the name and other identities of the petitioner herein in the judgement dated
30.04.2014 in Crl.A(MD).No.321/2011 on the file of this Court and accordingly
direct that Respondent No.4 to redact the same in their respective publication of
the same.
ORDER
accused person who on being charged for committing an offence and having
redaction of their personal information from the public domain. The other
which is an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty, and hence an
light of the same, this Court can set out guidelines in exercise of its jurisdiction
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2.The background of this case has been set out in the earlier Order passed
hereunder:
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3.The above order was circulated widely to all the Advocate Associations
and Bar Associations and many advocates positively responded to the call made
This Court with all humility must acknowledge the fact that if not for the
assistance of the members of the Bar, this Court could not have gained insight
4.This Court, apart from having the advantage of hearing the learned
counsel for the petitioner and Mr.K.Samidurai, who appeared on behalf of the
High Court Registry, also had the advantage of hearing the following counsel,
4 Mr.Sanjay Pinto
5 Mr.R.Thirumoorthy
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6 Mr.J.Anandhavalli
and Women Advocate Association.
Mr.B.Saravanan
7 Mr.D.Selvam
8 Mr.K.Samidurai Respondent
9 Mr.Abudu Kumar
10 Mr.G.Balasubramanian
11 Mr.Duraipandian
12 Mr.ArunAnbumani
13 Mr.Sharath Chandran
14 Mr.K.K.Ramakrishnan
15 Mr.K.P.S.PalanivelRajan
16 Mr.R.Suresh Kumar
that the right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and
Part III of the Constitution. As a result of the same and by virtue of the
right. It was also submitted that, the present issue involves a right to reputation
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cited where in Act II, Scene iii, 167: Shakespeare would say “Good name in
man and woman, dear my lord,Is the immediate jewel of their souls; Who steals
my purse, steals trash; ‘tis something, nothing; 'Twas mine, ‘tis his, and has
been slave to thousands: But he that filches from me my good name Robs me of
6.It was also impressed upon this Court that under the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973 (“the Code”),the Criminal Court after taking the evidence,
examining the accused, hearing the prosecution and the defence, considers that
there is no evidence that the accused committed the offence and finds the
accused not guilty, records an order of acquittal. The language used under
Section 232, 248 and 255 of the Code, was relied upon to add strength to this
argument. To explain the phrase “The Judge shall record an order of acquittal”,
the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Dilip Kumar Sharma And
Others v. State of Madhya Pradesh reported in (1976) 1 SCC 560, was relied
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7.It was further submitted that a judgment of acquittal gives the accused a
right of getting an automatic expungement of his name from all records and
who have been acquitted, has essentially gained significance due to the
under the sky to the fingertips of any person who may have access to the
internet. The search engines provide information about any person and
Therefore, since the orders and judgments are easily available on the public
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getting acquitted after facing criminal trial has their name reflected in the order
accused person is entitled to have their name redacted from the judgments or
orders and more particularly the ones that are available in the public domain
and which are accessible through search engines. However, this Court felt that
are issued. In other words, this Court felt that there are certain finer aspects
which have to be considered failing which, it may open up flood gates. The
need for assistance from the Bar therefore seemed imperative. Initially, this
Court was inclined towards right to privacy, right of reputation and right to live
with dignity being read to have a wide scope. The Court felt that it had to come
to the rescue until the legislature ultimately enacts the Data Protection Act.
However, on a deeper review of the issue, this Court has taken cognisance of
the fact that the same is not as simple and straight as it sounded.
10.There is no doubt with regard to the fact that the moment Judge
completely wiped out. This effect takes place due to the operation of law.
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literally strike of the name of the person from the order or judgment which
recorded the acquittal of the person from the criminal proceedings. In short, an
identity which has already been wiped out by operation of law is sought to be
wiped out at a gross level wherever there is reference to the name in the order
or judgment. One other question that solicits the attention of this Court is at
trial court stage or at the appellate stage or at the revisional stage and how
should it be done in cases which have already concluded and become a part of
record.
attention of this Court a very important point for consideration. The learned
counsel rightly argued that this Court is only looking at the end product of a
gets published. The learned counsel submitted that the damage to reputation or
dignity starts right from the day a complaint is given, a FIR is registered, an
accused gets remanded and when they face trial. At every stage, there is a
publication and while seeking for redaction, none of these publications will be
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judgment of acquittal which actually saves the honour of a person whose name
has already been tarnished due to various publications that take place and which
This country does not have a system like the one that is available in United
States, where through a Court order there can be complete destruction of the
entire records of an accused person, who is acquitted. Such person can start
their life tabula rasa and lead a normal life with the rights provided by the
application column for criminal records. In other words, the entire personal
the system is looking for identifying an effective right for a person acquitted in
just erasing the name in a final judgment or order. In fact, it may prove to be
order to prove their innocence, where there are other materials available in
public domain, which pertains to damning their name when the criminal
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destruction of the entire criminal record which ultimately removes the person
from their identity as an accused person. The said enactment is “The Juvenile
Justice [Care and Protection of Children] Act, 2015” and Rules thereunder, and
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14.There is yet another issue with far reaching importance that arises in
the present case that directly impacts one of the Central and universally
15. The rationale for the indispensable principle that justice must be done
in the open is best captured in the words of Jeremy Bentham who observed
Well over a century ago, this principle was firmly cemented as a fundamental
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Scott [1913 A.C 417]. Viscount Haldane pointed out that the general principle is
that Courts must administer justice in public. There were, however, some
exceptions like matrimonial cases, cases relating to minors etc. which required
a departure from this principle. The rationale for the exceptions were premised
on a more fundamental principle that the chief object of courts of justice must
the lis, the principle of open justice must yield to the still more paramount duty
offered the rule of law justification in support of the principle of open justice.
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17. In India the principle of open justice has been identified as a central
tenet of the rule of law. The principle, however, is not monolithic, and
elements:
spectator;
proceedings;
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right under Part III of the Constitution is no longer open to doubt in view of the
in K.S Puttaswamy’s Case, referred supra. The Supreme Court overruled its
earlier decision in M.P Sharma v Satish Chandra [AIR 1954 SC 300] and the
majority view in Kharak Singh v State of Uttar Pradesh [AIR 1963 SC 1295],
exists at a general level in the light of the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme
Court in K.S Puttaswamy’s case, the question that has now cropped up is
whether such a right exists in the context of judgments and orders of a Court. In
R. Rajagopal v State of Tamil Nadu (1994 6 SCC 632), the Hon’ble Supreme
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press/media.
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himself and Khehar, C.J, Agrawal and Nazeer, JJ) and R.F Nariman, J expressly
cite and approve the aforesaid principles from R.Rajagopal’s case. It must,
therefore, follow that judgments of courts being public records, the right to
privacy cannot subsist. The concurring judgment of S.K Kaul, J also recognizes
this position. At paragraph 636, the learned judge took note of what has now
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task carried out in public interest. In the context of judgments of Courts, Justice
SCC 260:
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22.It would, therefore, follow that the “right to be forgotten” cannot exist
seen in cases of victims of rape and other sexual offences where the Supreme
Court itself has directed that the identity of victims cannot be disclosed [See
against the disclosure of the identity of the victim and witnesses are also found
in provisions like Section 228-A IPC, Section 327(3) Cr.P.C, Section 23 of the
POCSO Act, etc. Thus, unless a case falls within the ambit of the exceptions,
23. It may also be necessary to take note of the powers of the High Court
under Article 226 for issuing suitable directions for non-disclosure during the
course of trial if there is a real and substantial risk that disclosure would imperil
fair trial. In such cases the High Court can pass “postponement orders”
deferring publication and that too only for a short period during the trial. The
principles in this regard are clear from the decision of the Constitution Bench of
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the Supreme Court in Sahara India Real Estate Corpn. Ltd. v. SEBI, (2012) 10
SCC 603:
24.The crux of the petitioner’s case is that the continued reflection of his
name as an accused in the judgment of this Court in Cr.A (MD) 321 of 2011 is a
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of law that a judicial order of a Court cannot violate fundamental rights under
Part III of the Constitution. In Rupa Ashok Hurra v. Ashok Hurra, (2002) 4
By virtue of this judgment also, the prayer in the writ petition cannot be
acceded to.
25.There is yet another hurdle in the path of the petitioner. The direction
sought by the petitioner is to redact his name from an order passed by a co-
ordinate bench of this Court in a regular criminal appeal. In effect, the prayer is
that a writ of mandamus must be issued against a judgment and order passed by
description of the petitioner in the cause title and the body of the judgment. In
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conclusively held that a writ does not lie to an order of a Court placed on an
26. The position was put beyond any pale of controversy in Rupa Ashok
Hurra v. Ashok Hurra, (2002) 4 SCC 388, wherein it was observed as follows:
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27.The jurisdiction and powers of the Madras High Court flowing from
the Letters Patent of 1865 is channelled through different benches for the
any judicial order, irrespective of the nature of jurisdiction and the strength of
the Bench, is, in effect, the order of the High Court as one institution. The
position is made clear by Clause 36 of the Letters Patent which runs as follows:
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state the point upon which they differ and the case shall
then be heard upon that point by one or more of the other
Judges and the point shall be decided according to the
opinion of the majority of the Judges who have heard the
case including those who first heard it]”
It is for this precise reason that any order, judgment summons, precepts etc., run
in the name of the High Court as one institution. Clause 7 of the Letters Patent
The point here is that since the High Court is one indivisible institution, a writ
cannot lie against a judgment or order passed by it for that would tantamount to
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judgment of any Court has been cited to show that the prerogative power of this
Court under Article 226 extends to direct alteration of its own records. In fact,
Nadu [1996 1 LW 577] where a judicial officer filed a writ petition and sought
The Division Bench took note of the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in
drawn to various foreign judgments and also the relevant regulations and
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30. The Court is not unmindful of the decision of the Court of Justice for
was directed to de-list information complained against from its servers. What
cannot be lost sight of is the fact that there exists a General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) for all European Union member states which has come into
effect from 27th April 2016. Article 17 of this Regulation is titled “Right to
erasure. No such rule or regulation exists in India for the present. In the absence
of any statutory backing this Court cannot undertake the exercise of issuing
specific rules. In other words, some basic criteria or parameters must be fixed,
failing which, such an exercise will lead to utter confusion. This Court must
take judicial notice of the fact that the criminal justice system that is prevalent
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crimes, this Court helplessly passes orders and judgments of acquittal due to
protection system. This Court honestly feels that our criminal justice system is
yet to reach such standards where courts can venture to pass orders for
the Data Protection Act and Rules thereunder, which may provide an objective
criterion while dealing with the plea of redaction of names of accused persons
who are acquitted from criminal proceedings. If such uniform standards are not
followed across the country, the constitutional courts will be riding an unruly
32.In view of the above discussion, this Court is not inclined to grant the
relief sought for in the writ petition and accordingly, the writ petition stands
dismissed. Before drawing the curtains, this Court will be failing in its duty if it
does not once again acknowledge the assistance rendered by the Bar in deciding
03.08.2021
Internet: Yes
Index : Yes
KP/PJL
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To
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N. ANAND VENKATESH,. J.
KP/PJL
Order made in
W.P.(MD)No.12015 of 2021
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