Supreme Court Orders Removal of Kolkata Doctor's Name and Images From Social Media

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that all social media sites must remove the name, images, and videos of a trainee doctor who was reportedly sexually assaulted and killed at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud led a three-member panel that noted that revealing the identity of a sexual assault victim violated the ruling issued by the Supreme Court in the Nipun Saxena case, which emphasized the need of shielding victims from scrutiny.

“This court is constrained to issue 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," All social media and electronic media platforms were directed to abide with the directive by CJI Chandrachud.

Justice J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra were also on the bench, and they were hearing a plea from attorney Kinnori Ghosh and others against the trainee doctor's identity being revealed on social media.

According to the plea, the victim's name and associated hashtags had been extensively circulated via electronic and social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X (previously Twitter).

The Supreme Court expressed its grave worry earlier in the day over the deceased's name being widely shared on social media.

"Photographs and video clips are all over the media. This is extremely concerning. We are first to recognise free speech but there are well-settled parameters. There are judgments of the court like in Nipun Saxena (case) that names of survivors of sexual assault will not be published," the Supreme Court stated.

The Supreme Court ruled in the Nipun Saxena case in 2018 and directed, "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."

On August 9, the trainee doctor's body was discovered. The next day, the Kolkata Police detained Sanjoy Roy, a civic volunteer, on suspicion of his involvement in the rape-murder incident. The CBI is questioning him right now, and he will probably be subjected to a polygraph exam as well.

(Input from various sources)

(Rehash/Priyanka Pandey/MSM)