R.G. Kar Medical College incident: SC orders removal of identity of deceased from social media platforms
New Delhi, Aug 20 – The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the removal of the identity of the deceased victim of Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College incident from all social media platforms and electronic media.
A bench, headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, noted that the name of the deceased and related hashtags have been widely disseminated on electronic and social media platforms including Meta (Facebook and Instagram), YouTube and X (formerly Twitter).
Also, photographs of the body of the deceased, including video clips have been circulating on social media and electronic platforms.
“Plainly, this is in violation of the directives of this Court in Nipun Saxena & Anr Vs Union of India & Ors. This Court directed that the identity of victims of rape should be protected and the media including the press, electronic and social media shall not reveal their identity,” said the bench, also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
The apex court passed an injunctive order since the social and electronic media have proceeded to publish the identity of the deceased and photographs of the dead body after the recovery of the body.
“We accordingly direct that all references to the name of the deceased in the above incident, photographs and video clips shall forthwith be removed from all social media platforms and electronic media in compliance with this order,” it ordered, as it disposed of a plea instituted by members of the Bar.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court pulled up the West Bengal government over the publication of the name, photographs and video clips of the deceased victim.
“It is extremely concerning. We are first to recognise the right to free speech, but there are well-settled parameters,” it said.
In response, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the West Bengal government, said: “We have filed 50 FIRs. Before the police arrived, photos were taken and circulated. We did not allow anything to happen.”
