Doctor invokes Right to be Forgotten, approaches HC seeking removal of news articles on his arrest, hearing on March 15

New Delhi: Invoking the "Right to be forgotten", a doctor has approached the Delhi High Court bench seeking removal of news and journal articles published on various online platforms pertaining to his wrongful arrest in regard to an FIR against him in 1999.

The doctor had been arrested on the basis of the allegations that included illegal procurement of medicines from abroad and administering the same to HIV patients in India. Allegedly, due to the mishandling of HIV patients, one patient had allegedly passed away.

Referring to the fact that the FIR registered against him has already been discharged and further relying on the order of the trial court, which had not found any evidence of the petitioner engaging in any illegality, the doctor has now prayed before the HC bench for removing all the articles available on the online platforms including British Medical Journal, the Lancet, NCBI, and Indian Paediatrics, adds IANS.

Due to the unavailability of Justice Prathiba M. Singh, the matter was adjourned until March 15.

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The petitioner doctor, Ishwar Gilada is the first person to raise the alarm against AIDS in India (1985) and to start India's first AIDS Clinic (1986) at the government-run JJ Hospital, Mumbai.

The petitioner's lawyer Rohit Anil Rathi stated that the articles are available online platform of the publishers, British Medical Journal, the Lancet, NCBI, and Indian Paediatrics, and can also be searched on Google despite Gilada has already been discharged in the FIR that was registered against him in 1999.

In the plea, Gilada has relied on a trial's court order stating that "there is no evidence whatsoever of the petitioner having engaged in any illegality".

On February 17, the court had asked petitioner for communicating with the online publishers through email along with the copy of this petition as an intimation to the said publishers about the filing of the present petition.

"If they -- British Medical Journal, The Lancet, NCBI, and Indian Paediatrics-- choose to join the proceedings on the next date of hearing, they are allowed," the court had said.

Back then, the singe-judge bench had observed, “In the meantime, considering that the publications, which are online, let an email communication be given by the Petitioner to the publications, which are online, along with the copy of this petition as an intimation to the said publishers about the filing of the present petition.”

“If they choose to join the proceedings on the next date of hearing, the following publications are allowed to do so; i. British Medical Journal, ii. The Lancet, iii. NCBI, and iv. Indian Paediatrics”, the court had added, adds Law beat.

'Right to be Forgotten' enables a person to silence the past events of his life that are no longer occurring. Thus it entitles individuals to have information, videos, or photographs about themselves deleted from certain internet records so that search engines cannot find them.

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