Protest against Kolkata rape-murder case.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed free online encyclopedia Wikipedia to remove the photograph and name of the resident doctor who was raped and murdered at R G Kar government hospital in Kolkata.
A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the submission by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who said Wikipedia was still carrying the name and the photograph of the victim.
The top court said provisions of the law are very clear that the identity of the victim in rape and murder cases cannot be revealed.
"In the interest of maintaining dignity and privacy of the deceased, the governing principle is that identity of victim in a rape and murder case shall not be disclosed.
"Wikipedia shall take steps to comply with the previous order passed," the bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said.
During the hearing, a lawyer claimed when Wikipedia was told to remove the victim's name and photograph, they refused, asserting "they can't be censored." Mehta said the law required the identity of a rape victim to be not disclosed and this does not amount to censoring.
The top court had earlier ordered the removal of the name, photos and videos of the trainee doctor, who was raped and murdered in Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, from all social media platforms.
It had said disclosure of the identity of a victim of sexual assault is a violation of its order passed in the Nipun Saxena case.
In its 2018 judgement in the Nipun Saxena case, the top court had said, "No person can print or publish in print, electronic, social media, etc. the name of the victim or even in a remote manner disclose any facts which can lead to the victim being identified and which should make her identity known to the public at large." The trainee doctor's body with severe injury marks was found inside the seminar hall of the hospital's chest department on August 9.
A civic volunteer was arrested by the Kolkata Police the following day for his alleged involvement in the rape-murder incident.