The Supreme Court on Friday ordered removal of all identification of the dead victim of the Kolkata R.G. Kar Medical College incident from all social media and electronic media platforms.
A bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and including Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra observed that the victim's name and associated hashtags are profusely being circulated across Meta (representing Facebook and Instagram), YouTube, and X. Pictures and video clips of the deceased person are also circulating across the channels.
Bench remarked, "This clearly violates the directions issued in the case of Nipun Saxena & Anr Vs Union of India & Ors laying down that identity of the rape victim should not be revealed. The Media, including press, electronic and social media, shall not disclose the identity.".
An injunction had been awarded since deceased's identity, pictures of the body continued to be published despite the previous court orders. The court ordered that all mentions of the victim's name, as well as photographs and video footage of the same, be taken down with immediate effect from all media platforms in order to conform to this order.
The Supreme Court had earlier admonished the West Bengal government over the unauthorized circulation of the deceased's name, photos, and videos. "While we uphold free speech, there are established guidelines that must be adhered to," the court had said.
Countering the accusations, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the West Bengal government, submitted, "We have lodged 50 FIRs. Photos were taken and circulated before the police intervened, and we ensured no further dissemination occurred."
