REDACTED vs High Court Of Delhi Through Ld Registrar General
- Court
- Delhi High Court
$~34
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
th
% Date of Decision: October 16 , 2026
# CNR No. DLHC010505602026
+ W.P.(C) 15503/2026 & CM APPL. 72763/2026, CM APPL.
72764/2026
XX .....Petitioner
Through: Mr. Madhav Khurana, Sr. Adv.
with Ms. Trisha Mittal, Mr.
Nishant Sharma, Ms. Shaurya
Singh & Mr. Deepak Sahni,
Advs.
versus
HIGH COURT OF DELHI THROUGH LD REGISTRAR
GENERAL .....Respondent
Through: Mr. Saurabh Seth, PC DHC,
with Ms. Neelam Preet Kaur,
Mr. Abhiroop Rathore, Mr.
Kabir Dev & Mr. Sukhvir
Singh, Advs.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT MAHAJAN
AMIT MAHAJAN, J. (Oral)
1. By the present petition, the petitioner seeks the following
reliefs:
A. Pass an Order issuing a writ of Mandamus or any other
appropriate writ/order/direction directing the Respondent to mask
the identity markers in Orders, including the Order dated
07.09.2021 passed in Crl.M.C. 1732/2021 and the Order dated
13.05.2021 passed in Crl. M.C. 1057/2021 as detailed in Ground C
hereinabove and any other marker(s) as may be deemed
appropriate and consequently upload such masked Order on the
office website of this Hon'ble Court; and
B. Pass an Order permitting the Petitioner to approach all
concerned third-party portals, intermediaries or public search
Signature Not Verified
W.P.(C) 15503/2026 Page 1 of 5
Signed By:SHIKHA
SEHGAL
Signing Date:16.10.2026
21:12:25
engines, as identified or may be subsequently discovered, to host
the masked version of Orders of Crl. MC No. 1732/2021 and Crl.
MC No. 1057/2021, including the Order dated 07.09.2021 passed
by this Hon'ble Court in Crl. M.C. No. 1732/2021 or any other
material pertaining to the abovesaid proceedings wherein the said
names and identity markers are reflected;”
2. Succinctly stated, two FIRs were registered on account of the
untimely demise of the petitioner’s wife (hereafter ‘ deceased ’) on
31.12.2019. One FIR being FIR No. 13/2020 under Sections
498A/306/201/34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (‘ IPC ’) was
registered at the instance of the deceased’s sister. The said FIR was
quashed by this Court in CRL.M.C. 1732/2021 vide order dated
07.09.2021.
3. Another FIR being FIR No. 464/2020 was registered at Police
Station Bharat Nagar under Sections 420/467/471 of the IPC at the
instance of the deceased’s father. The said FIR being FIR No.
464/2020 was also quashed by this Court in CRL. M.C. 1057/2021
vide order dated 13.05.2021 on the ground of settlement between the
parties.
4. The petitioner is essentially aggrieved that the said orders are
readily available on the internet and on third party portals which is
leading to undue harassment to the minor son of the petitioner and
other family members. It is urged that once the FIRs have been
quashed, no public interest would be served by its name based
accessibility on the public domain.
5. The petitioner consequently seeks a direction to the respondent
to mask the identity markers in the Orders, including the Order dated
Signature Not Verified
W.P.(C) 15503/2026 Page 2 of 5
Signed By:SHIKHA
SEHGAL
Signing Date:16.10.2026
21:12:25
07.09.2021 passed in CRL.M.C. 1732/2021 and the Order dated
13.05.2021 passed in CRL. M.C. 1057/2021 as detailed in Ground C
of the present writ petition. The petitioner further beseeches this Court
to grant permission to the petitioner to approach all concerned third-
party portals, intermediaries or public search engines, as identified or
may be subsequently discovered, to host the masked version of Orders
of CRL. M.C. No. 1732/2021 and CRL. M.C. No. 1057/2021,
including the Order dated 07.09.2021 passed by this Hon'ble Court in
CRL. M.C. No. 1732/2021 or any other material pertaining to the said
proceedings.
6. Admittedly, the criminal proceedings instituted by FIR No.
13/2020 and FIR No. 464/2020 already stand quashed pursuant to the
orders passed by this Court on 07.09.2021 and 13.05.2021
respectively. Considering the fact that the criminal proceedings
already stand quashed, this Court finds merit in the grievance
highlighted by the petitioner.
7. Previously, this Court in the case of ABC v. State : 2024 SCC
OnLine Del 8113 , while directing masking of the name of the
petitioner therein, had emphasised that the concept of right to privacy
encapsulated the right to be forgotten. While doing so, this Court
further observed as follows:
“11. It is well settled that the right to privacy is a fundamental
right and forms an intrinsic part of Article 21 of the Constitution of
India. The concept of right to privacy incorporates the right to be
forgotten. In the age of internet, every piece of information that
finds its way to the internet, gains permanence. The need to allow
the masking of names of individuals acquitted of any offence or
when criminal proceedings against such persons are quashed,
emanates from the most basic notions of proportionality and
Signature Not Verified
W.P.(C) 15503/2026 Page 3 of 5
Signed By:SHIKHA
SEHGAL
Signing Date:16.10.2026
21:12:25
fairness. While the access to information is a fundamental aspect
of democracy, the same cannot be divorced from the need to
balance the right to information of the public with the
individual's right to privacy. This is especially when after the
quashing of the proceedings, no public interest can be served by
keeping the information alive on the internet.
12. There is no reason why an individual who has been duly
cleared of any guilt by law should be allowed to be haunted by
the remnants of such accusations easily accessible to the public.
Such would be contrary to the individual's right to privacy which
includes the right to be forgotten, and the right to live with
dignity guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India .”
8. Considering the aforesaid, the respondent is directed to
mask/remove the identity markers in the orders, including the order
dated 07.09.2021 passed in CRL.M.C. 1732/2021 and the order dated
13.05.2021 passed in CRL. M.C. 1057/2021 as detailed in Ground C
of the present writ petition.
9. The petitioner is additionally permitted to approach all
concerned portals, public search engines or intermediaries to host the
masked version of orders of CRL. M.C. No. 1732/2021 and CRL.
M.C. No. 1057/2021 including the orders dated 07.09.2021 and
13.05.2021 respectively or any other material pertaining to the said
proceedings wherein the said names and identity markers are
reflected.
10. Whenever the petitioner would apply or approach any of the
search engines, third party portals or intermediaries, it is expected that
they would follow the principle of ‘right to be forgotten’ as noted
hereinabove and mask any other material which may be on the record
pertaining to the aforementioned cases wherein the said names and
identity markers are reflected.
11. The present petition along with pending applications stand
Signature Not Verified
W.P.(C) 15503/2026 Page 4 of 5
Signed By:SHIKHA
SEHGAL
Signing Date:16.10.2026
21:12:25
disposed of with the aforesaid directions.
AMIT MAHAJAN, J
OCTOBER 16, 2026
“SK”
Signature Not Verified
W.P.(C) 15503/2026 Page 5 of 5
Signed By:SHIKHA
SEHGAL
Signing Date:16.10.2026
21:12:25