Open Access Research Article
THE RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN IN INDIA: BALANCING THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY WITH THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION
Abstract
1.0 Abstract
The permanence of digital information
has produced one of the most significant contemporary conflicts in Indian
constitutional law: the tension between the right to privacy and the right to
information. Search engines, judicial repositories such as Indian Kanoon, and
online news archives ensure that personal data — including matrimonial
disputes, criminal accusations, and even judicially confirmed acquittals —
remains perpetually retrievable long after the underlying dispute has been
resolved. This paper undertakes a doctrinal and comparative examination of the
Right to Be Forgotten ("RTBF") in India, situating it within the
constitutional framework established by Article 21 of the Constitution, as
interpreted in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, and against the
countervailing guarantee of free speech and information under Article 19(1)(a)
read with the Right to Information Act, 2005.
Using a doctrinal approach, this
research paper identifies judicial pronouncements by Karnataka, Delhi, Kerala,
Madras and Bombay High Courts between 2016 – 2024, then analyses the statutory
right to erasure in Section 12 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act,
2023 (‘DPDP Act’) in a critical manner.
A comparative element is incorporated through a study of the European
Union General Data Protection Regulation, 2018 (‘GDPR’), along with case law of
the Court of Justice of the European Union – namely Google Spain SL v. AEPD,
Google LLC v. CNIL - against Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn from the United
States, which represents an information broadening, speech-enhancing
standpoint.
I find that Indian courts, without
legislative motivation, have arrived at a very cautious, fact-specific
proportionality framework – allowing erasure where the concept of ‘intimate
dignity’ is concerned, while denying it where accountability to the public is
concerned. I conclude that the DPDP Act,
2023 is actually a significant legislative intervention, but the right to
erasure it prescribes is skeletal, under-detailed and does not specify
timelines, codified public-interest exceptions or institutional independence.
The paper concludes by proposing a distinctly Indian balancing framework —
rooted in the Puttaswamy proportionality standard, informed by the procedural
clarity of the GDPR, and tempered by the free-expression vigilance of the
American model.
Published Paper
Author Details
Authors: SOWMYA.A
Registration ID: 1013134 | Published Paper ID: IJLRA13134
Year: Sep-2026 | Volume: 3 | Issue: 6
Approved ISSN: 2582-6433 | Country: Delhi, India
Page No.: 511-531
Article Information
THE RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN IN INDIA: BALANCING THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY WITH THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION
Authors: SOWMYA.A
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Volume 3
- Issue 6
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- AbbreviationIJLRA
- ISSN2582-6433
- AccessOpen Access
- LicenseCC 4.0
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